Cybaris® Volume 6 | Issue 1 Article 7 2015 How Spotify Killed the Radio Star: An Analysis on How the Songwriter Equity Act Could Aid the Current Online Music Distribution Market in Failing Artists Caitlin Kowalke Follow this and additional works at: http://open.mitchellhamline.edu/cybaris Part of the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons, and the Intellectual Property Law Commons Recommended Citation Kowalke, Caitlin (2015) "How Spotify Killed the Radio Star: An Analysis on How the Songwriter Equity Act Could Aid the Current Online Music Distribution Market in Failing Artists," Cybaris®: Vol. 6: Iss. 1, Article 7. Available at: http://open.mitchellhamline.edu/cybaris/vol6/iss1/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at Mitchell Hamline Open Access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Cybaris® by an authorized administrator of Mitchell Hamline Open Access. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. © Mitchell Hamline School of Law Kowalke: How Spotify Killed the Radio Star: An Analysis on How the Songwri Published by Mitchell Hamline Open Access, 2015 1 Cybaris®, Vol. 6, Iss. 1 [2015], Art. 7 HOW SPOTIFY KILLED THE RADIO STAR: AN ANALYSIS ON HOW THE SONGWRITER EQUITY ACT COULD AID THE CURRENT ONLINE MUSIC DISTRIBUTION MARKET IN FAILING ARTISTS CAITLIN KOWALKE† TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction ............................................................................. 195 II. What Ownership Rights Are Songwriters Guaranteed Under Current Copyright Law? ........................................... 198 A. Mechanical Licenses ..................................................... 198 B. Compulsory Licenses ..................................................... 200 C. Section 114 Limitations ................................................. 204 III. Industry Limitations on Musical Copyright Today ............... 205 A. Emerging Technology as a Constant Threat to Copyright Protections ..................................................