Is it clear yet how, or if, writers will make performance royalties from Internet usages?
I think it’s very clear. The entity distributing the performance is obligated to pay performance royalties. I don’t think there is any question about that right now. I think the question is how much the fees are going to be and how the licenses are going to be structured. Both ASCAP and BMI have arrangements with an increasing number of websites currently, and they are going to license more and more. With America Online now being a content owner, it’s going to help enormously, because at one time it appeared that they were not being terribly cooperative with the principles of copyright law, but now they have a real vested interest in protecting assets for their shareholders. I thought that was a very good sign. I think that’s going to really help the movement towards recognition of copyright rights substantially. I don’t think that there is any question that people feel that performances on the Internet are controlled by the copyright law. It’s a pretty silent medium right now, and I d
