Music industry and copyright protection in the United States and China:

摘要

From the standard economic rationale, music copyright supports the rights of authors and creators to exclude competitors and the public from accessing and copying their works to the extent necessary to provide incentive to recover the investment they made in creating those works. The necessary extent in music copyright is from the interplay of three historical drivers of copyright policy—technology (which makes things possible), the market (which gives rise to consumer demand and companies delivering goods and services to satisfy those consumers), and the law (which determines the rules of the road). Due to differences in cultural traditions and historical developments, these processes have been different for the United States and China. This “In Focus” report briefly explores intellectual property and music copyright in these two countries from an historical perspective, comments on their current state, and reflects on future directions.