Copyright in electronic music

Although the availability and suitability of copyright protection for computer software has been much discussed recently, there has been very little discussion of the impact of new technology on copyright protection for other subject matter. The present thesis demonstrates that, in the area of copyright in musical works, there is a need for a review of the objectives and principles of copyright protection. Electronic equipment now permits the instantaneous performance of a written musical score, or the instantaneous production of a written musical score from a performance. The information contained in a musical score can be stored as digital data in a computer, and doubts arise as to the status of such data in terms of copyright protection. The theme of the thesis is the tension between the philosophy which would confine copyright protection for musical works to reproduction of particular written or recorded representations of those works, and the philosophy which would afford copyright protection to musical works as abstract groupings of sound so that any form of exploitation of a musical work is covered by copyright. The thesis begins with a technical introduction, then proceeds to discuss the history of musical copyright, the definition of a musical work, the acts involved in reproducing a musical work, and copyright protection for musical digital information