Russell Rains, Director of the MBA Program in Digital Media Management Program at St. Edward’s College in Austin TX, discusses digital rights management, why record companies are so in favor of it, and why these companies never manage to successfully predict what the next big threat to their perceived rights is going to be.

John Kellogg, Professor of Music Business/Management at Berklee College of Music, shares his thoughts on the future of the music business – in specific, how consumer behavior such as filesharing is changing how music companies must do business, and how copyright holders might need to adapt in the coming years to keep making money off the copyrights they hold.

Russell Rains, Director of the MBA Program in Digital Media Management Program at St. Edward’s College in Austin TX, discusses what the current state of the record business implies for the future. He addresses the problem of pricing – how much is too little? how much is too expensive? – and the ways in which digital music is much more difficult for companies to capture, control and monetize than traditional physical media.

Russell Rains, Director of the MBA Program in Digital Media Management Program at St. Edward’s College in Austin TX, defines the parameters of copyright law as it applies to sound recordings in the USA, and identifies many areas in which the law is vague or incomplete. He also discusses how the Copyright Act of 1976 changed copyright law, and addresses the role of the federal government and private bodies in enforcing copyright law.

Russell Rains, Director of the MBA Program in Digital Media Management Program at St. Edward’s College in Austin TX, explains the legal reasons behind why some “free” music (e.g. heard on the radio) is legal and some (e.g. an album downloaded via P2P) might be illegal.

Russell Rains, Director of the MBA Program in Digital Media Management Program at St. Edward’s College in Austin TX, answers the question, “If music is property, why don’t many people consider downloading music without paying to be stealing?” He discusses the ethical, legal, and common-sense issues at play when discussing the culture of music downloading, and then looks at various sides of a related question: “If the music is available for free, then why pay?”

In this clip, Russell Rains, Director of the MBA Program in Digital Media Management Program at St. Edward’s College in Austin TX, argues that with the advent of filesharing and the enormous problems facing traditional music companies, this is an excellent time to start a career in the music industry – but only if you prepare yourself for the changes to come.

Russell Rains, Director of the MBA Program in Digital Media Management Program at St. Edward’s College in Austin TX, discusses the concept of “precedent” and how it relates to copyright law, which in turn underpins the entire music industry as we know it. He discusses the origins of modern law in English common law, and why it is critical that modern courts stick to the 1,000 years of precedents that have come before when formulating their decisions. He also analyzes the apparent breakdown in precedent that is facing modern copyright law, as technology and new distribution methods get far out ahead of the law’s ability to encompass them.

Russell Rains, Director of the MBA Program in Digital Media Management at St. Edward’s College in Austin TX, leads a discussion at Loyola University, New Orleans about how copyright law applies to sound recordings in the USA, how digital media and digital rights management relate to copyright, and what the future may hold. He explains what rights the purchaser of a sound recording has, why record companies love digital rights management, how Creative Commons may transform copyright law, how new technology and distribution methods are making current law obsolete, and how current events are shaping the future of copyright law.