Author: Jonathan Band

[Jonathan Band and Brandon Butler] In 2013, we published Cautionary Tales About Collective Rights Organizations [21 Michigan State Int’l L. Rev. 687 (2013)]. We acknowledged that properly regulated collective rights organizations (“CROs”) in some circumstances enhanced efficiency and advanced the interests of rights holders and users. At the same time, we observed that CROs had a long history of corruption, mismanagement, lack of transparency, and hostility towards users and artists alike. The 2013 article compiled episodes detailing this history to provide balance to any policy discussion that addressed collective licensing and CROs. In the five years that have passed since we published that article, CROs around the world have continued to misbehave, often serving their own interests at the expense of artists and the public. We decided it was time to recount these latest episodes.