On April 19, Rainn Wilson (aka Dwight Schrute) appeared on John Krasinski’s YouTube show “Some Good News,” and warned his former “Office” members not to stream Rapper Opportunities without first getting permission from the artist or publishing. company. Krasinski then brought Chance himself to the show, and he gave the green light.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated an abundance of goodwill in the media and entertainment business: DJs playing music online for free; Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez post dances to popular songs on TikTok, Broadway players sing songs for Stephen Sondheim on YouTube, art gallery exhibitions have become virtual and professional athletes play video games on ESPN.

But all of these well-meaning efforts have strong implications in terms of intellectual property – presenting dangerous obstacles and promising opportunities. Even before the pandemic pushed our lives online, our digital moments called for a new, leaner, more simplified approach to managing this worm’s copyright can.

Streaming images, videos, music and books turns every interaction and event into a show, display, or broadcast of intellectual property. And the law requires a license for the streaming to protect the creator’s content.

So what happens when copyright holders start tracking the DJs profitably playing unlicensed songs, celebrities like to dance to songs without permission in TikTok? When a copyright lawsuit acts against those who stream videos and music without permission through Zoom and YouTube?

To be sure, pivoting to an online virtual experience will likely produce some valuable innovations. Pandemic has encouraged companies to think creatively about how to re-imagine a live event for an audience that is stuck at home.

With meetings like the South by the Southwest, Lollapalooza and Burning Man forced to become virtual, adding online content will be important to keep this business alive and keep the audience engaged. Such organizations must create original ways to expand their reach, as did NBC with the Olympics – creating short documentaries, providing dynamic music to accompany recordings and replay shows on various platforms.

But this new business model and potential profit center are on a collision course with the copyright owner. Proliferation of more sophisticated production values ​​will require more complicated IP licenses for direct event producers who are not accustomed to handling rights in the digital sphere.

Placing a camera on the talking head panel on SXSW is no longer enough for people who sit at home and pay to participate remotely. Organizers must create entertaining panels such as TV shows, with music, maybe green screens and other copyrighted works to engage viewers.

Copyright theft is nothing new – from a PowerPoint presentation featuring an unlicensed New Yorker cartoon to a spinning class that pumps to the beat of unlicensed pop songs, content owners have long struggled to enforce laws requiring permission.

But as the term “life” is being redefined from day to day, licensing becomes much easier and potentially more expensive. Making licenses for programs that are actually Internet broadcasts raises a number of complicated questions. Which regions receive broadcasts? How is broadcasting compensated (subscriptions, tickets, advertisements)? What happens if a member of the viewer reposts the content? Should the license fee be calculated by the number of streams, page views, or every single event? Should the license be exclusive or not exclusive?

Streaming music that is synchronized to video is more complicated to delete than music on the radio, because the compulsory music license that applies to terrestrial radio and the internet does not apply to music that is synchronized to video. Instead of just paying for performance rights organizations such as ASCAP or BMI, producers must track copyright holders and negotiate licenses. The process is time consuming, frustrating, and usually more expensive than the budget allows. With more businesses in the rights cleansing game, people might look for shortcuts – but that is a dangerous approach.

Now, more than three months in the COVID-19 quarantine, copyright holders are increasingly nervous about the casual distribution of their content. National Music Publisher Assn. in April said that preparing to sue TikTok for copyright infringement because more than 50% of music on the platform – including Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift – has not been removed.

In May, publishers sued the San Francisco-based Internet Archive NGO for making millions of copyrighted books freely available during the pandemic – citing “national emergencies”. The lawsuit was quickly resolved when Internet Archive stops the practice of violations.

In the days of Napster in the early days, sharing audio files without permission almost destroyed the music business. It took years, millions of dollars, and dozens of lawsuits by the recording industry before Napster and his descendants waved white flags, leaving space for Apple and others to create an easy licensing system for personal use of music via the internet via iPod.

To avoid similar Wild West piracy and prosecution periods, stakeholders must work to develop a nimble and manageable virtual content distribution ecosystem.

We need to create an easy policing system, such as copyright registration, a user-friendly online legal content market (like Apple music) or laws that provide mandatory licenses for synchronization licenses like ASCAP and BMI do for playing music in public places. Copyright owners can use anti-piracy software to control the internet for unlicensed work – this technology is at hand – automatically identify and even charge offenders with financial penalties or issue licenses.

Apple and Spotify can expand their licensing capacity to public performances of music, podcasts, videos and other content. Photography companies like Getty Images can simplify licensing copyrighted works for public shows so that the average person or artist can get clear rights and content without spending a lot of money on lawyers and getting mired in legal little things.

Now streaming multimedia – whether in the form of a simple TikToks or sophisticated virtual production – is online, it’s time for the technology industry, the legal profession, Congress and Hollywood to work together to enable the free flow of creative content while keeping the fight free for all.

We have to give awards – and remuneration – where they should be, because people like Krasinski won’t be able to bring the artist to the show all the time, especially now that the show will be aired on CBS. The whole process of licensing rights needs to be easier.

In this COVID-19 age, we have the opportunity to avoid chaos in the past, urging organizations across the board – whether individual players, art platforms, small businesses or large companies – to start thinking and behaving like their own multimedia company suddenly Becomes.

Instead of trying to put the genie back in the bottle, we can begin to harness the power of technology and law and find a way forward for creators, distributors, licensors, and audiences – protecting intellectual property, even when we also utilize it.

Klaris is the chief executive of KlarisIP and partners in managing Klaris Law. He has been an assistant professor at Columbia Law School since 2005.