Bill Roberts is secretary-general of the North American Broadcasters Association.

The policy framework surrounding ‘old media,’ like analog radio and off-air television, was shaped by its inherent limitations: state allocation of scarce broadcast frequencies, geographic restrictions and significant public ownership.

The recent emergence of ‘new media,’ like computers and the Web, digital radio and television, and satellite tv and cable, is characterized by abundant capacity in the frequency spectrum, geographic insensitivity, and private ownership. Digital compression permits a virtually limitless number of channels to be delivered anywhere in the world. These digital signals can be recorded, reproduced, and rebroadcast indefinitely, without the loss of quality associated with analog signals.

As a result, the companies that own billions of dollars in intellectual property are both intrigued by the opportunities presented by new media, and extremely hesitant to plunge in without proper safeguards.

To illustrate, one of the more interesting Internet developments is music downloading from the Web. Set up in 1997, a leader in this area – MP3.com – now offers more than 500,000 selections from over 23,000 artists.

The major record companies haven’t participated, since MP3 today has no means of preventing redistribution. However, to the dismay of those record companies, the Web has proven to be a powerful tool for distribution. So the industry is working on a standard for MP3 music delivery called sdmi (Secure Digital Music Initiative), which promises security and rights management for music labels.

Whereas streaming audio offers amazing quality at slow modem speeds, bandwidth and speed limitations have until now limited the amount of streaming audiovisual content on the Web. However, it is safe to predict continuous improvements in signal compression technology and network speed. The revolution will be Webcast, which can be sampled today at 300-Kbps by computers with cable modem, at sites like Broadcast.com and FasTV.com.

In the future, we will be able to select our favorite movie from immense video libraries, and play it at near-vcr quality. As with music, redistribution will be a big issue.

A new licensing solution

One way to license audiovisual works is through a digital watermark, like the International Standard Audiovisual Number (isan) now under development by the International Organization for Standardization (iso), based in Geneva. It identifies an audiovisual work with a unique 16-digit number, the last of which is a check digit used to verify the accuracy of the preceding 15 digits.

isan is not a ‘content descriptor’ but a ‘dumb number,’ meaning it doesn’t include any codes or other signifying elements. It will remain the same regardless of format (dvd, video recording), distribution (Internet, digital television), language, or geographic location.

The MPEG 2 and MPEG 4 standards used for digital signal compression already provide space for the isan identifier. For digital audiovisual works, it will be embedded in the master copy of the work and any copies made from this master. For analog audiovisual works, isan should be securely affixed to the master and any other archival copies.

isan can be affixed to motion pictures and short films, trailers and television productions, including individual episodes, educational, and training films, commercials, audiovisual recordings of live events, and composite works with an audiovisual component. It can then be used to track distribution, to assist in the collection of royalties, and to combat piracy.

Participants from several countries and international organizations are members of the isan working group. Stephen Stohn, vice-president of Epitome Pictures, and Carol Cooper, executive director of the Canadian Retransmission Collective, are among those working on the isan project. If all goes well, the isan standard should be approved by July 2000.

Intellectual property dilemmas

Intellectual property rights protection has been a major obstacle to the emergence of a market for digitally distributed products – movies, music and written materials. Movie studios, record companies, and other players in the entertainment industries are reluctant to commercially exploit their intellectual property as digital products. Content supply and availability could be limited if intellectual property rights for new media are delayed.

There is pressure in some countries to place obligations on gatekeepers – notably isps (Internet Service Providers) and Web portals – to act as ‘copyright police.’ Tony Scapillati, executive director of the Canadian Broadcasters Rights Agency cites an example: the Canadian Copyright Board recently made a ruling on fees sought by socan from Internet service and content providers for music broadcast on the Internet. The ruling stated isps are exempt, forcing copyright owners to seek compensation from content providers. This decision is subject to appeal.

The European Parliament recently voted to extend e.u. copyright legislation to protect music and audiovisual material from Internet piracy and to limit in-home copying of videos and music. The European law opens the way for levies on blank tapes or recordable cds, so that copyright holders can be compensated.

In the u.s., the Digital Millenium Copyright Act was signed into law in October 1998, making the u.s. the first country to implement two provisions of recent World Intellectual Property Organization treaties as well as legislate limitations of copyright liability for isps. The wipo treaties require signatory countries to provide legal remedies against circumvention of ‘effective technological measures’ and tampering with ‘copyright management information,’ like digital watermarks and encryption systems.

To gain the help of isps in curtailing copyright infringement by users, the dmca has created four ‘safe harbors’ – transmission and transient storage, system caching, storage on behalf of users, and provision of information location tools.

The future

Revisions to Canada’s copyright laws are needed to allow copyright owners to erect electronic fences around their works and protect against infringements facilitated by digital technologies. The final report of the subcommittee on communications of the standing Senate committee on transport and communications, dated May 1999, states in its list of recommendations:

‘Intellectual property and privacy rights for new media and Web-based products must be adequately protected through legislation and international agreements. Canadian policymakers should move in a timely fashion to expedite Phase iii revisions to Canada’s copyright law as well as take appropriate measures to ensure privacy on the Web.’

For its part, naba is creating an electronic naba Bill of Rights advocating broadcaster copyright protection, and consumer safeguards regarding access, privacy, and free and fair expression.