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Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Minn., Real World Economics Column.

By Edward Lotterman, Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Minn. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Aug. 7--Two unrelated public controversies -- drug costs and music copying -- highlight an important economic lesson.

Society benefits when governments grant property rights in intellectual property through patents and copyrights. But the benefits can be costly. Patents and copyrights help society by motivating people to be creative. They hurt society when the artificial monopolies they inherently create bring higher prices and lower ...uantities.

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    • Recently, I urged the recording industry to back a statute that would legalize peer-to-peer music file-sharing and at the same time require Internet service providers (ISPs) and electronics businesses to pay into a fund to reimburse the labels and artists for lost sales.
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    • The Canadian Private Copying Collective announced yesterday (Jan. 13) that it will seek to appeal a Canadian last month that overturned levies of up to $25 Canadian ($20.61) on digital music players such as iPods....
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    • The Canadian Private Copying Collective announced yesterday (Jan. 13) that it will seek to appeal a Canadian federal court ruling last month that overturned levies of up to $25 Canadian ($20.61) on digital music players such as iPods.
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    • While record labels and music artists worldwide argue about the best way of using technology to deliver music, Canadian music publishers are finding that advances in technology are creating greater opportunities for their music to reach a broader audience.
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    • The Australian music industry is divided over proposed copyright law changes that would introduce a levy on blank recording media.
  • Legal Matters: Canada's Courts Agree: No Levy On Mp3 Players
    • The music industry's fight against peer-to-peer copyright infringers is gathering strength in courts around the world. Yet some tech-oriented lawyers and others who disagree with the labels' legal strategy and recent court decisions are using the industry's occasional in-fighting to garner attention for their positions.

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