Christopher Sabec is the co-founder and CEO of Rightscorp INC, a copyright monetization company located just outside of Los Angeles in Santa Monica, California. Mr. Sabec has represented multiple music professionals, protecting them from illegal downloaders online.
The first copyright law was set in 1710. It was called the Statute of Anne, and it was implemented to protect the ownership of created materials done by its author. This material was to be protected for fourteen years. 1909 brought a very different recording industry than seen before, thus calling for a revision in the US Copyright Act. The law changed both the scope of works that could be considered under the copyright law as well as extending the protection time from fourteen to twenty-eight years. The revision was set forth to both make sure that the artist was able to obtain a fair return on investment while protecting the public interest at the same time.
Digital piracy began when Bill Gates put out the first personal computer. In 1997, the Digital Millennium Copyrights Act made Internet Service Providers liable for their customers caught illegally downloading digital media. This act also increased the penalties for copyright infringement.
The scope of the music industry changed in 1999 when Northeastern University student, Shawn Fanning, developed the first Peer-to-Peer (P2P) software, Napster. In the next ten years, the music industry was cut in half from about $14 Billion in 1999 to around $6.5 billion in 2009. Global P2P traffic was close to 45% of global consumer Internet traffic and more than twice as much as web browsing. This was a major problem for musicians trying to make a living for themselves, so copyright monetization companies, such as Rightscorp, were able to come out of the woodwork.
Christopher Sabec co-founded Rightscorp with his business partner to protect the intellectual property done by musicians and other artist. Rightscorp represents the copyright holder by offering settlements to people who are caught illegally download music, videos, and videogames. Rightscorp sends illegal downloaders a settlement letter giving them options for financial restitution, collects the money, and gives it back to its appropriate owner, the copyright holder. Rightscorp has done work for some of the biggest Hollywood studios and agencies in the industry such as Warner Brothers Studios and BMG Rights Management.
Rightscorp uses innovative software to find and catch illegal downloaders by monitoring worldwide P2P networks. They combine forces with Internet Service Providers, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, to demand payment from those who are caught illegally downloading digital media. If the person illegally downloading music does not comply, then their Internet Service Provider will remove them from their system.
Christopher Sabec’s wordpress on Rightscorp and copyright law will keep people up to date with current copyright law news and other industry matters of his choosing.
Christopher Sabec on Copyright Law 