I was going though my DVD sets today and I came across one of Carl Galletti's Superconferences. On one of the DVDs was a US attorney who is also an internet marketer. What she had to say about audio files brought me out in a cold sweat.
I kid you not....this is going to have a resounding affect for a lot of internet marketers who use audio files. She warns that mp3 is an international standard that has been patented and that there is an international body called the World Trade Organization that governs these standards so its not just an American issue but a world wide issue.
The WTO requires that the patent holder(s) do two things1) they must license that patent2) they must also collect royaltiesThe problem is everybody thinks mp3 is free but its NOT. Thomson, who issues the licenses, has been gearing up attornies to go after individuals and businesses who have not complied to the licensing regulations.
They are even building software to "spider" the internet for websites that have the mere mention of mp3, so they don't have to do it manually.This way they will be able to find the violators. They can then potentially take those violators to court for license and royalty fees. Its not just selling the files that violates the license.
Anytime an mp3 file is downloaded, put onto a CD, streamed or even given away as a bonus for maybe an opt-in list, you can be potentially be responsible for paying a royalty fee based on the entire gross revenue from ANY sales from that opt-in list. Its not just future sales but past and present. It also affects your affiliates. There is far too much to go into detail here, but if anyone is interested or would like to know more, I will do my best to answer.The two patent holder company names are Thomson and Fraunhofer. Here is a link to one of their FAQ pages. http://mp3licensing.com/help/index.html#4
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment