Abstract

     This article discusses the development of the compulsory license for making phonorecords of nondramatic musical works in the Copyright Act of 1909 and the continued existence of this compulsory license in subsequent iterations of copyright law. Drawing on this background, the paper then argues that, however useful the compulsory license may have been in the past, it is no longer a useful means to promote the creation of intellectual works and should be repealed.
     In particular, the paper highlights several factors that compel the conclusion that compulsory licenses are an outdated concept and should be repealed. In particular, the article focuses on how compulsory licenses deviate from the traditional bargain struck by copyright law, the lack of moral rights under the present system, the debatability of the assertion that repeal of the compulsory license will result in a sufficient quantity of exclusive licenses that will not only be exclusive but will harm the public interest, the lack of anti-monopoly concerns in the modern marketplace, and a belief that private negotiation will result in fairer treatment of the authors of non-dramatic musical compositions.