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Decision Assigns Copyright Law to Ringtones
On October 17, 2006, the U.S. Copyright Office issued a decision on the legal status of ringtones. Last month, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), acting on a request by the Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. (“RIAA”) referred the question about ringtones and compositions to the Copyright Office for a decision. The CRB wanted to know whether compositions used for ringtones fall under the compulsory license provisions of section 115 of the Copyright Act. The Copyright Office found that mere excerpts of pre-existing sound recordings used for ringtones do fall under the compulsory license provisions of the Act. The decision is a victory for record labels that want to offer ringtone operators the master rights and publishing rights as one package.
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