Music industry ditches hardcore copyright for 'free love' tunes

Stranglehold copyright could be going the way of the dinosaur, it seems, with both the big names and independent organisations moving towards a more open copyright structure.

In a strategy volte-face, Sony has decided to bin its copy-protected CDs in Japan. The CDs only allowed their owners to burn music once to a PC for free – any more copies and there's a charge, paid over the internet.

From 17 November onwards, Sony's CDs will be a bit more liberal but any copy-protected CDs on the market won't be recalled.

The CDs, while theoretically meant to scupper the pirates, weren't popular with the average music fan, as the copy-prevention mechanism stopped the CDs playing in car stereos and other players.

Sony's Japanese copy-protected CDs have been dumped after two years on the market, according to the company, because piracy is no longer a huge worry in the country. Record companies in Europe, however, still seems to be worried about the prospect - Bertelsmann BMG, the world's fifth-largest record label, recently launched CDs in three formats including luxury and no-frills version to deter unauthorised copying.

While Sony is moving away from keeping such a tight rein on its copyright, others would like to see the music world move further.

silicon.com Agenda Setter Lawrence Lessig's Creative Commons project is one such group hoping for music without the digital handcuffs.

The project has been up and running in the US and will be coming to the UK as of next month. The not-for-profit foundation has created a simple licence that tunesmiths can use to let others remix, sample or alter their music without having to contact the musician or their record label for approval first.

Creative Commons has been attracting some high-profile friends. The Beeb is in talks with the group over how to license its soon-to-be-released archives and a CD featuring bands including the Beastie Boys and David Byrne will be available with next month's Wired, with all the songs released under the Creative Commons licence.

Stelios Haji-Iannou's soon-to-be-unveiled easyMusic download service is also planning to include a section of "copyleft" music, where song-shoppers can download and distribute music for free, alongside a traditional pay-per-track model.