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chronology
This page offers a chronology regarding the DMCA,
Napster, Gnutella and other filesharing developments.
Context is provided by the multi-page communications &
media timeline on this site.
precursors
1903 Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs und mechanische
Vervielfältigungsrechte (GEMA) formed in Germany
1908 Berlin Convention adds photography, film and sound
recordings to Berne
1909
US copyright law prohibits "unauthorized mechanical reproduction
of musical compositions"
1911 Performing Right Society (PRS) founded in UK
1912 Australian Copyright Act 1912 reflects UK
Act of 1911
1913 American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers
(ASCAP) formed in US
1924 Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) founded
in UK
1926 Confederation Internationale des Societes Auteurs
& Compositeurs (CISAC) founded
1926 Australasian Performing Right Association Ltd (APRA)
founded
1928 Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers,
Producers of Phonograms & Broadcasting Organizations adds
broadcasting to Berne
1929 Bureau International des Sociétés Gérant les Droits
D'Enregistrement et les Reproduction Mecanique (BIEM)
founded
1934 Gramophone Co v Cawardine & Co case in UK results
in payment to owners of sound recordings for broadcasts
and public performances
1980
invention of Compact Disk (CD)
1982
music CD launched in consumer markets by Philips and Sony,
doesn't feature copy protection
1985
CD technology extended for use in personal computers
1992
MPEG-1 approved as data storage/retrieval standard
Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) passed by US
Congress
launch of the Internet Underground Music Archive (IUMA)
1995
Fraunhofer Gesellschaft patents MPEG-1 layer 3 (aka MP3)
in US
Real Audio 1.0 is released
1997
Winamp developed
launch of MP3.com
launch of MusicMatch
US No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) launched
1998
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in US
MP3.com, GoodNoise, MusicMatch, Xing Technology and Diamond
Multimedia launch MP3 Association
RIAA launches Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI)
Copyright Term Extension Act ('Sonny Bono Act')
in US
Diamond Multimedia launches portable commercial MP3 player
Emusic.com becomes the first commercial Web site to sell
singles and albums in MP3 format
1999
Shawn Fanning launches Napster P2P file-sharing service
Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) sues Napster
for being "a haven for music piracy on an unprecedented
scale"
French court imposes three month prison sentence for copyright
infringement by providing links to illegal MP3 files
MP3.com listed on Nasdaq
2000
MP3.com announces introduction of My.MP3.com personal
jukebox
major record labels sue MP3.com
MP3.com ordered to pay US$250m to Universal
Music Group
Metallica
sue Napster for damages
Commonwealth Parliament Cracking Down on Copycats:
enforcement of copyright in Australia report
Australian Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act
2000
Nullsoft withdraws support for Gnutella
Edward Felten at Princeton University demonstrates weaknesses
in SDMI watermarking
Sony
Music is first major label to begin commercial downloads
of singles in US
Sony and Universal disclose plans to launch Duet (later
renamed Pressplay), commercial digital music subscription
service
Australian
Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000
Emusic.com announces plans to launch US subscription service
KaZaA invented by Amsterdam-based FastTrack (Sharman Networks,
AltNet/Brilliant Digital and Joltid)
Napster closes during copyright infringement lawsuit in
US
Bertelsmann
invests in Napster, with plans for commercial access to
service
UK online music service OD2 launches WebAudioNet platform
to enable retail clients to offer subscription services
US court rules that terrestrial broadcasters must pay
royalties for webcasts and streaming of recordings
Vivendi Universal buys MP3.com
2001
Bertelsmann's BMG Entertainment agrees to license music
to OD2 for European distribution
O'Reilly Peer-to-Peer Conference decries constraints on
P2P
US court tells Napster to block all infringing files
EMI
agrees to license music to Pressplay
EU Directive on Copyright & Related Rights In The Information
Society
Warner Music licences catalogue to Tiscali and other ISPs
for EU subscription services
Universal licenses catalogue to FullAudio
Kabushiki Kaisha Sony v Stevens anticircumvention
case in Australia
Rhapsody, MusicNet and Pressplay launch in US
2002
Sony, EMI and BMG licence catalogues to Listen.com for
its Rhapsody subscription service
US Supreme Court rules in Eldred v Ashcroft that
Sonny Bono Act is constitutional
US record and film industries sue owners of Grokster,
Morpheus and Kazaa
KaZaA sold to Sharman Networks
FastTrack pulls service to Morpheus (which moves to Gnutella),
claiming "They weren’t paying their bills"
UK copyright collecting
societies Performing Right Society and Mechanical Copyright
Protection Society offer dual licence to facilitate clearance
of mechanical and performing rights
Warner licenses catalogue to Rhapsody
WIPO Copyright Treaty
and WIPO Performances & Phonograms Treaty update international
copyright law
Napster collapses
FullAudio introduces its own music service
French ISP Wanadoo makes deal with OD2
Universal licences catalogue to Listen.com
UK retailer HMV offers subscription service in brick-n-mortar
stores
BMG licenses catalogue to Pressplay
UK Association of Independent Music (AIM), independent
labels body, facilitates licensing by international online
radio stations
Universal licenses catalogue for pan-European distribution
MusicNet secures licensing deals in US with Universal
and Sony
Warner Music licences Pressplay
US legislators Howard Berman and Howard Coble propose
'Berman Bill' to legalise Denial of Service and other
action by copyright owners against P2P devices
Forrester questions whether decline in industry revenue
is primarily due to filesharing
Audiogalaxy settles litigation bought by record industry
over its "piratical behavior", pays compensation
and withdraws many files
AIM, record, technology and telecommunications businesses
in UK form Musical consortium to distribute music via
mobile phones
EMI licences Liquid Audio, Alliance Entertainment, Ecast,
FullAudio Corporation, Listen.com, MusicNet, pressplay,
Roxio and Streamwaves
EU independent labels body Impala launches Impala Interactive
centralised licensing mechanism
2003
Tower Records, Virgin Entertainment Group, Hastings Entertainment,
Wherehouse Music, Best Buy and Trans World Entertainment
launch Echo service
RIAA begins sending millions of messages to Kazaa and
Grokster users, alerting them against unauthorised P2P
use of copyright music
Universal's Island Def Jam Music begins selling singles
as downloads
Sony Music France licenses 5,000 songs by local and international
artists to e-compil, Universal Music France's digital
subscription service
Tiscali offers free music to broadband subscribers
AOL introduces its own version of MusicNet
IFPI launches GRid (Global Release Identifier) to identify
and track online content
Ericsson and Sony Music Germany announce collaboration
on M-USE project about music-related content to mobile-phone
users
BT launches Dotmusic on Demand service supported by major
labels
MTV Networks Europe launches similar service
RealNetworks buys minority share in Listen.com
EMI makes available over 140,000 tracks (3,000 groups)
UK High Court rules that EasyInternet must compensate
BPI, British music industry trade body, for copyright
infringement and unlicensed CD-burning services
Australian P2P site MP3 WMA closed following investigation
by IFPI and MIPI, with operators fined or jailed
RealNetworks announces planned acquisition of Listen.com
for US$36m
US district court rules that Verizon must reveal identity
of anonymous subscriber accused of swapping
Apple launches iTunes Music Store online music service
in US with repertoire from all major labels, with per-track
rather than subscription basis
US District Court rules that Morpheus and Grokster P2P
services are not liable for copyright infringement but
unauthorised file sharing is illegal
RIAA sues students and parents in US
in Sony Music Entertainment (Australia) Ltd v Uni
of Tasmania here
music IPR owners litigate against Australian universities
over student file sharing
Destra relaunches Australian retail download service
through Sanity, HMV, JBHiFi and ChaosMusic
Apple announces that it has sold 25 million songs
in year of iTunes launch
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