A Negotiated Solution to Audio Home Recording? Lessons from the Us Audio Home Recording Act of 1992

25 Pages Posted: 3 Nov 2004

See all articles by Saba Elkman

Saba Elkman

University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Law; University of Melbourne - Law School

Andrew F. Christie

Melbourne Law School

Abstract

In Australia, the conflict between copyright owners and those who wish to use copyrighted works for private, non-commercial purposes remains unresolved. In the US, in contrast, Congress responded to these conflicting claims in relation to musical works by enacting the Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) in 1992. To date, there is no equivalent in Australian law, despite recent proposals by two collecting societies to introduce a private copying remuneration scheme in Australia.

This article critically examines the AHRA in order to determine whether Australia should consider enacting a similar scheme. Included is a discussion of the process of negotiated compromise that led to the AHRA, and the identification of the hypothetical result such a process would produce if undertaken in Australia. In contrast to the AHRA, the hypothetical Australian solution neither generates a royalty stream for copyright owners nor confers upon consumers an audio home recording right, thus demonstrating that the process of negotiated compromise does not generate a uniform outcome across all jurisdictions. Rather, the outcome is determined by jurisdictionally-specific and historically-contingent factors.

Keywords: copyright, United States, Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, Australia, music

JEL Classification: K19

Suggested Citation

Elkman, Saba and Christie, Andrew F., A Negotiated Solution to Audio Home Recording? Lessons from the Us Audio Home Recording Act of 1992. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=614201

Saba Elkman

University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Law ( email )

Sydney
Australia

University of Melbourne - Law School ( email )

University Square
185 Pelham Street, Carlton
Victoria, Victoria 3010
Australia

Andrew F. Christie (Contact Author)

Melbourne Law School ( email )

University of Melbourne
Melbourne, Victoria 3010
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://www.andrewchristie.com

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