Music and Podcasting Remain A Rat's Nest

RAIN: Yesterday, Kurt Hanson's newsletter highlighted the quagmire that exists in the world of podcasting and licensing music for the new medium... part of the problem is that technology continually outpaces our legal system and the true definition of a podcast has not been clearly defined yet. "Should podcasts be classified as a form of broadcast or does it fall closer to the definitions of a narrowcast? Or, are podcasts actually peer-to-peer transmissions?" 'ASCAP's recently announced music licensing for podcasts is a step in the right direction,' said Richard Sharp, CEO of podcasting portal PodChannels, Inc. 'But it would be much more helpful to the podcast community if they could make their licensing as simple as Creative Commons does.'

Related:

--Legality Of Using Music In Podcasts Remains Foggy - "Despite the wide variety of opinions on copyright infringement and the various definitions of podcasting, the consensus across the industry seems to be that there must be one set of rules that everyone can follow and enforce.  Without that, and with the quick development and release of new technologies, the only thing we can be sure of is uncertainty and confusion."