Classical Musicians v. Copyright Bots

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic forced classical musicians to cancel in-person recitals and concerts and led to the exploration of virtual alternatives for engaging audiences. The apparent solution was to livestream and upload performances to social media websites for audiences to view, leading to income and a sustained social media presence; however, automated copyright enforcement systems add new layers of complexity because of an inability to differentiate between copyrighted content and original renditions of works from the public domain. This article summarizes the conflict automated copyright enforcement systems pose to classical musicians and suggests how libraries may employ mitigation tactics to reduce the negative impacts when uploaders are accused of copyright infringement.