Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons^™

Expanding Preferential Treatment Under The Record Rental Amendment Beyond The Music Industry, Ryan G. Vacca

Law Faculty Scholarship

In January 2007, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Brilliance Audio, Inc. v. Haights Cross Communications, Inc. and answered a lingering question concerning the Copyright Act that had persisted for over twenty years. The court decided whether the protections offered to the music industry under the poorly drafted Record Rental Amendment of 1984 also extended to audiobooks and other non-musical works. This Act deprives owners of items such as tapes and compact discs from renting those items to others without the consent of the copyright owners of the recorded song and the written lyrics and music - a right …