Newsletter
INTERNET MUSIC TRANSMIS-SIONS IS NOT PUBLIC BROAD-CASTING
Article 3 Paragraph 1 Item 7 of the Copyright Law as currently in force defines "public broadcast" as "communication to the public of the content of a work in the form of sound or images, by wire or wireless means or by the use of other equipment, for the purpose of public reception. This includes communication to the public of the sound or images of an original broadcast, by wire or wireless means, by a per-son other than the original broadcaster." In a recent legal interpretation, the IPO stated that the wording "other equipment" was added by an amendment to the law in 1992; that at that time the Internet was not in widespread use, so the original legislative intent did not include the Internet; and that transmission via the Internet is a new mode of use that has emerged in recent years, and as such does not fall within the meaning of "public broadcast" as defined in Ar-ticle 3.