US Department of Justice considers making illegal streaming a felony

A US Department of Justice official has put forward a proposal that would make the offence of illegal streaming a felony rather than a misdemeanor.

David Bitkower, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division proposed the upgrade to copyright law to a Subcommittee at a hearing on Friday titled ’Copyright Remedies’. Billboard reports those at the hearing are from the same Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet who have been discussing rights laws relating to the music business.

Currently, US copyright law files streaming under ‘public performance’; the upgrade will see illegal streaming offenders treated in the same manner of those found guilty of illegal downloading of copyrighted works.

The current US laws apply in Australia; the Copyright Act allows individuals and businesses to stream legal videos and audio, through services like Spotify and Rdio for example, however, to avoid copyright infringement the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) urges businesses to obtain a licence should they want to play protected recordings, like streaming, digital downloads, CDs etc.

“It is illegal to play protected sound recordings in public without a licence […],” a PPCA spokesperson told TMN. “PPCA operates an enforcement program under which it carries out inspections and investigations into the unauthorised public performance, transmission and broadcasting of copyright protected sound recordings and music videos by businesses throughout Australia. PPCA can and does take legal action on behalf of its licensors for the infringement of copyright.”

TMN approached Kate Vale, Managing Director for Spotify Australia and New Zealand for comment. She told TMN: “Spotify offers a free, higher quality, more convenient, legal alternative to piracy and we’ve always considered piracy our number one competitor. While we can see proven progress in our mature markets in reducing piracy, it’s still a big problem on a global scale. While we can’t comment on the US case specifically, we obviously both share the same goal – ensuring that music rights-holders get remunerated for their work.”

While Bitkower has suggested the proposed law should only apply to “unauthorised public performances conducted for commercial advantage or private financial gain,” it’s the third time the US government has recognised illegal streaming as a problem. Last year US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker released a document of policy proposals calling for the same offence upgrade on behalf of the Department of Commerce’s Internet Policy Task Force, and as Billboard reports, in 2011 the White House called on Congress to make the same change to copyright law.