Alliance Center for
Intellectual Property Rights
WHO OWNS YOUR VOICE? THE OWNERSHIP DEBATE IN PODCASTING!
November 15, 2024
*Ms. Kadimi Lakshmi Harshitha
History has seen many wars for property in ancient and medieval periods, the modern age is however distinct from all those and best described as the period of the Internet and data, where the brawl is not over the property but the information, and the person holding more intellectual property rights is considered the king!
The rise in social media has given access to a wide range of information in numerous forms, one such form that has been highly acclaimed in recent times is the ‘podcast culture’ which began as a niche medium and is thriving in the content industry at a large scale. As it is convenient to absorb long and short-format content as a podcast, the reach and the demand for it have increased largely where no field has been left over, however, the intriguing question is who owns this content.
CONCERNS OF PODCASTS:
Podcasts are the collaborative work of the host, the writer, the editor, the guests, background music, etc. in the question-answer audio format which makes them interesting. Having said that, what makes it more complicated is the legal claims concerning who owns the final work, how the rights and royalties are shared, who takes the liability in case of any copyright infringement, etc. This issue has two segments of liability where the primary liability deals with the copyright of music, content, and background scores that may have been taken from other sources without permission or proper accreditation.
The secondary liability and the most prominently debated issue is the ownership of the content, as to whether is it owned by the guests or the producer of the podcast, for which there is no clear stance and is mostly dependent on the understandings of the guests and the host.
With respect to the primary liability, when podcasters use content or music from other sources, they should be conscious enough, that any use of the work without consent may lead to copyright infringement which was held by the court in A&M Records Inc. vs. Napster Inc., and it further implied that any platform that uses or facilitates the use of copyrighted work without proper authorization or permission may attract copyright infringement, thereby holding Napster liable.
OWNERSHIP OF THE CONTENT:
It is also pertinent to understand that when the guests appear on the podcasts, they share a lot of information which could be facts, their stories, experiences, or learnings, that become their intellectual property, however, when these are published online, they create many disputes and discrepancies over the rights of such content.
The concern over ownership has three arguments, firstly, in cases of not-so-popular or beginner’s podcasts, where the guests are called out of invitation to share their insights, the copyright over the content would be retained with themselves as there would be no agreements generally in respect of the same.
Secondly when the host is a popular personality, has a separate platform for the content, or has decided to retain the ownership of the content, there may be an agreement in respect of the same, or there is also a possibility of having terms and conditions which confer the exclusive rights over the content to the guests themselves. However, the guests should be careful when the ownership rights are vested with the host of the podcast.
Thirdly, when the podcasts are sponsored by certain entities or when the hosts rely on platforms like Spotify, Google podcasts, Apple Tunes, Audible, etc. the terms and conditions would be decided by the platforms wherein there may be conditions for holding exclusive or partial ownership of the content of the entire podcasts with the platforms. Therefore, both the person holding the podcast and the guests should know the IP policy of the platform before recording the podcast.
The major repercussions that might arise in the future would be concerning copyright claims and suits for copyright infringement in cases when the guests reiterate the specific information or entire content in other shows or platforms which was agreed to be the copyright of the host. However, there are exceptions to this scenario in respect of factual information, generic data, etc. but it would always be better to enter into such agreements with due diligence. In many cases when there are no specific agreements, the copyright impliedly vests with the guests.
Nonetheless, the best or ideal way to deal with the scenario would be either for the guests to retain exclusive ownership of their content so that they are free to use or reiterate their views on multiple platforms, or enter into an agreement where both the guests and the host would be entitled to joint ownership with an exception to the personal experiences, and the story of the guest.
CONCLUSION
With the growing complexity of the digital world and huge content floating in the market, content creators and speakers must protect their intellectual property, specifically with the growing demand for podcasts the hosts need to ensure that their work, labor, and intellect are paid off adequately. They can achieve this by having clear contracts with the contributors, licensing agreements, and properly incorporating the fair use doctrine. Similarly, the guests should be conscious of having clear terms in regard to the ownership of the content to prevent any future conflicts.
REFERENCES:
- Johnson, L A and Sharon K. Grayden, Podcasts--an emerging form of digital publishing, 9, INT’L J. C.D. (2006), https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Podcasts--an-emerging-form-of-digital-%20publishing.-Johnson%20Grayden/
- Schnackenberg, Heidi L., et. al., Podcasting and Vodcasting: Legal Issues and Ethical Dilemmas, 2009, [PDF] Podcasting and Vodcasting: Legal Issues and Ethical Dilemmas | Semantic Scholar.
- Murray, A. Copyright infringement in the digital environment, Information Technology Law: The Law and Society, Oxford University Press, 2019 https://www.oxfordlawtrove.com/view/10.1093/he/9780198804727.001.0001/he-%209780198804727-chapter-12.
Authors:
* Ms. Kadimi Lakshmi Harshitha
5th Year B.A.LL. B. (Hons.) Student,
Alliance School of Law, Alliance University.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of the Alliance Centre for Intellectual Property Rights(ACIPR) and the Centre does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.