Copyright Business

--- And a Merry Christmas to all Iptegrity readers!---

They can't copyright Christmas can they? The public debates around Christmas and commercial profit tend to focus on consumerism and retail sales. What role does copyright and intellectual property play in it? Scratch the surface and you will find that intellectual property plays a critical role in making that consumer Christmas happen. Indeed, it is like the cement which binds so many elements that comprise what we now call 'Christmas'.

EMI's recorded music business has been sold to Universal, owned by French conglomerate Vivendi, in a $1.9 billion (£1.1billion) deal which will give Universal control of around one third of the global music business. EMI's other half - music publishing - has been wrapped up in a $2.2 billion (£1.39 billion) package under a consortium which includes the Hollywood film mogul, David Geffen (famous for having dinner with Lord Mandelson in the summer of '09). For policy-makers the deal stirs up a hornet's nest of issues.

Allegation of fraud against Spanish music collecting society results in arrests.

The offices of the Spanish music collecting society SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores) have been raided by police following an investigation by the Anticorruption Prosecutor. According to a report in El Pais, the police entered the SGAE offices last Friday and staff were locked out while police went through computers and documents. The chairman of the board, Eduardo 'Teddy' Bautista was

How should one distribute the video of one's grandchild's wedding? Well maam, one can set up one's own YouTube channel.

The Queen is an unlikely pundit for new Internet business models, but her grandson's wedding on May 29^th will be setting an example for others to follow. And it gives us an opportunity to consider the possibilities for new Internet business models and see if there are any insights for policy-making.

When Charles and Diana got married in 1981, it was a relatively simple affair. A procession from St Pauls Cathedral, watched all in real time by 750 million people - one single BBC television feed distributed by government-licenced national networks.

When William and Kate get married next week in Westminster Abbey, it is predicted that 2.4 billion people will watch it . But it's not just the numbers, it is how they will watch it. All the complex machinery of the Internet will kick in, creating a challenge for the broadband providers and a potential headache for copyright.

EMI, a member of the recorded music industry association IFPI which pursues file-sharers, is in financial trouble. But these particular  woes were not caused by file-sharers - instead,  it was the bankers which have the brought the company near to financial collapse. So how should policy-makers view the music industry?

 One of the big four music labels, EMI, is set for a major financial battle in the US courts this week.

The financial media are very excited, and positively foaming at the mouth,  at the prospect of the case. It is  is expected to turn into  high drama as the events unfold. EMI's  owner, Guy Hands, is suing Citigroup  over advice given by one of Citigroup's  investment bankers - advice which influenced Mr Hands decision to increase his purchase offer for EMI to £4.2 billion - a lot more than it was worth.

The court case illustrates that the underlying financial problems of the music industry may be quite different from what they like to say to policy-makers.  The purchase of EMI was