Company poses potential copyright solution

Alex Coolman

COSTA MESA -- An Internet company here has proposed a solution to the

argument over Napster-style distribution of copyrighted material, an

approach that at least one industry watcher greeted with guarded

interest.

LoudVOICES.com, a small company with offices on Buckingham Drive, has

suggested that it can strike a compromise between the recording industry

and fans of Web sites like Napster that allow Internet users to swap

music files without paying fees.

Mbuyi Khuzadi, president and founder of the company that launched in

April, said his Web site can allow artists to be compensated for their

work while preserving the possibility for the public to trade files

freely.

“There’s all these ominous signs of [technological] infrastructure

that allow people to basically steal stuff, and our response was ‘well,

no, that’s not fair, but here’s a way you can keep your [file-sharing]

culture but sort of be fair with people,’ ” he said.

The model LoudVOICES would follow is quite similar to the approach

author Stephen King has adopted in marketing his serialized novel, “The

Plant.”

King made the first section of the book available for download on his

Web site, but has made the availability of the remainder of the story

contingent on getting enough online readers to pay a small fee.

Khuzadi says he hopes that basic model could work well for selling

music, novels, or any copyrighted material.

Under the system, LoudVOICES would post an announcement listing the

availability of, say, a new single from a band.

But the single would only be released once listeners had pledged

enough money to satisfy the holder of the copyright.

“The person that owns the copyright is able to state what they think

[the product] is worth,” Khuzadi said.

If not enough people pledged money and the single could not be

released, the site would refund its customers -- something that King has

not offered to do.

The pricing model is one that has the potential to be successful from

a consumer’s point of view, said Anthony Berman, a San Francisco attorney

who specializes in new media issues.

“I think people are willing to pay for things that are of value to

them,” he said. “Historically, the entertainment industry has always

borne that out.”

Whether the recording industry will find the LoudVOICES model

attractive, though, is difficult to say, Berman added.

“It really comes down to finding the right value for the service

you’re providing,” he said.

Khuzadi said his company has made a few preliminary overtures toward

the recording industry and has contacted Gnutella, a Napster-style

file-exchange Web site. He’s steering clear of Napster itself until the

legal haze surrounding that site blows over, he said.

A spokesman for the Recording Industry Assn. of America did not return

calls Wednesday.