This Machine Kills Copyright

This article argues that blockchain technology could move music ownership toward the collective, folk-based model of earlier eras, while copyright law resists that shift. It contrasts Bob Dylan's wealth from selling his songwriting catalog to Universal Music Group in 2020, initially thought to be $300 million but probably closer to $400 million, and his recorded music rights to Sony Music Group in 2022, estimated at about $200 million. The piece also highlights Ryuichi Sakamoto, who in 1997 warned that digital networks could violate creators' copyright, and who later released his 595 NFTs project isolating each note of "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence."