[Commlist] Special Issue CfP on Copyright, the Music Business, and the Evolution of Performing Rights Organizations

Special Issue CfP on Copyright, the Music Business, and the Evolution
of Performing Rights Organizations


Guest editors Jim Rogers (Dublin City University)  and Sergio
Sparviero (University of Salzburg) welcome contributions to a special
edition of the International Communication Gazette, Q1 - SCImago
Journal Rank (https://journals.sagepub.com/home/gaz) planned for
publication in June 2025.

See below for deadlines and submission requirements.

** Overview

Performing Rights Organizations (PROs), also known as Performing
Rights Societies (PRSs), play a crucial role in upholding copyright
regulations by granting licenses for music used across various
settings. Their members include composers, songwriters, and authors,
as well as non-creative entities like music publishers and other
rights owners.  They act as intermediaries between these members and
music users, including online platforms, broadcasters, cinemas, live
event organizers, and other public venues incorporating background
music.

Though privately run, PROs historically operated as extensions of
government entities. They were regulated monopolies established by law
to collect royalties on behalf of rights owners. Also, directly, they
distributed royalties solely to music creators operating within the
same national boundaries, while, indirectly and with the support of an
international network of PROs, also to foreign artists whose music was
played by users within their territory.

> From a global perspective, the digital transformation of the music
industry and the evolving regulatory landscape have significantly
reshaped PROs, their operations, reach and values. The ecosystem of
music is more globalised with some PROs functioning on an
international scale, boasting representation and members in various
regions. While they still collaborate with other PROs through
networks, they are also in competition with these peers to attract
superstar artists and songwriters to join their ranks, or to tap into
niche markets. The digitization of music and the rise of global
digital players have further complicated the royalty collection
process, leading to the establishment of international conglomerates
specialized in collecting rights related to digital platforms.

Despite their critical role in the music industry ecosystem, academic
research has largely overlooked PROs and their recent evolution. This
special issue seeks to address this knowledge gap by exploring the
evolution and interplay between copyright regulations, regulatory
frameworks, and the organizational aspects of PROs, internationally,
or in specific regions of the world. The editors will accept a variety
of proposals within the overall theme proposed, but will also welcome
contributions that specifically delve into the following areas:

- Analyses of performing rights organisations through the lens of
business model literature or from institutional perspectives,
elucidating their organisational logic, cultures, norms, values,
beliefs, and other relevant concepts.

- Perspectives on changing conceptualisations of copyright over time,
and how such ‘visions’  might manifest themselves in the ever-changing
roles and practices of performing rights organisations.

- Performing rights organisations and local music industries: Given
that the vast majority of performing rights organisations expatriate
more revenue than they retain, how do they relate to actors in the
local music ecosystem?

- Performing rights organisations as a fundamental component of the
intellectual property rights regime

- Analyses of how performing rights organisations have evolved
historically in the context of changing societal values.

- Performing rights organisations as bolstering inequalities of power
and wealth in the domain of music publishing, where concentrated power
and polarised wealth persist as key features of this industrial
sector.

- The role and influence of performing rights organisations in shaping
legislative and judicial protection of music rights and state and
superstate levels, and the implications of this for composers and
music audiences alike.

- International - and particularly, non-western perspectives - on the
interplay between copyright regulations, regulatory frameworks, and
the organizational aspects of PROs


** Submission guidelines

Extended Abstracts of 500 to 1000 words, with a title, must be sent by
email to the guest editors at (jim.rogers /at/ dcu.ie) and
(sergio.sparviero /at/ plus.ac.at) by April 1st, 2024. Please add short bios
for all the authors.

·       Papers selected for inclusion will be original research of
7500 to 8000 words and shall be submitted by September 1st, 2024.

·       Final versions of the paper after revisions, where applicable,
will be due for submission on January 6th, 2025.

There will be no APC to publish in the journal. For any information,
please email (jim.rogers /at/ dcu.ie) and (sergio.sparviero /at/ plus.ac.at).
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