Music publishers balk at ringtone licensing mandate

That sure didn't take long. The same day the U.S. Copyright Office ruled in favor of a compulsory licensing model for ringtones, one of the leading publishing groups announced plans to ignore it. The Harry Fox Agency issued a statement saying: "This decision has no effect on HFA's existing policy that digital phonorecord delivery licenses issued by HFA on behalf of publishers are limited to the making and distribution of full downloads comprising full-length musical works and do not cover the additional configurations of ringtones or mastertones. HFA has not issued and is not issuing ringtone or mastertone licenses under the compulsory license provisions of Section 115."

HFA is no lightweight in this game. The group has basically stalled the launch plans of several digital music subscription services by demanding higher rates than existing services currently pay. Music publishers by and large are lawyers, and like nothing more than suing people, so expect this challenge to go to court post-haste.

Check out the full update:
- in Digital Music News post