Music Distribution & the Internet

My review of Andrew Sparrow’s new book “Music Distribution and the Internet” was published in a 2007 issue of FreePint. Read it here …

Music is among the most captivating topics in cyberspace. On almost any given day, headlines highlight something new happening in the online music industry. Often the story involves litigation against anybody threatening traditional business models. Lawyers obviously aren’t the only people interested in these developments, but legal issues do permeate all aspects of distributing music via the internet. So it isn’t surprising that lawyers are tackling this topic more frequently. Leading information technology law practitioner Andrew Sparrow is among the latest to do so.

In his new book, Sparrow attempts to offer insights into the legal aspects of conducting music-related business online. Unlike some more general works on trends in digital music, this is a technical and practical account of the range of legal challenges associated with internet-based music businesses. The author has created a useful resource by probing the basics of the broad and diverse set of legal problems confronting those working in this area. Few other books about online music offer any analysis of matters such as advertising regulations, electronic payment systems or international conflicts of laws.