IP Notes

Brian Ibbott had always loved making mixed tapes and CD's. His podcast, "Coverville," has become one of Podcastalley's most popular, and in many ways it is like a real radio show, without the advertising. Sunday is all-request day, and listeners can call in their requests. Mr. Ibbott, 35, plays back their recorded requests before the songs.

"I don't know that I'm doing it so much as a protest against radio as I am to develop the radio show I always wanted to hear," said Mr. Ibbott, who lives in Colorado. The last great radio station nearby, he said, was bought out by Clear Channel. "And they got the same playlist everyone else did."

He pays a few hundred dollars to Ascap and BMI to allow him to play copyrighted music, he said, and is negotiating with the Recording Industry Association of America, which has filed lawsuits to prevent unauthorized music downloading.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/19/technology/19podcasting.html?hp

Check out this NYT article on the podcasting phenomenon. Here you have a spontaneous citizens' movement to utilize new technologies in ways that challenge the existing broadcast and entertainment business models.

So what are the licensing and other copyright issues raised by podcasts? I think we need a thorugh discussion of what they are and how they may be addressed. There are millions of people getting into this, and if they run head long into copyright problems and penalties that means millions of people with a stake in the future of copyright law.

# posted by John @ 9:18 PM