-Largely self-regulating, apart from copyright and trademark enforcement, the music industry is mostly based around self-regulated publishers, producers and artists.

- In Australia the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) imposes regulation on the content of music available for sale.

Comprises of 4 labels, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and exceeding Level 3.

Progresses from Level 1, which is ‘Infrequent aggressive or strong coarse language; Moderate impact references to drug use, violence, sexual activity or themes’ to Level 3, ‘Product contains graphic description of drug use, violence, sexual activity or very strong themes, which have a very high degree of intensity and which are high in impact; These products require an adult perspective and are therefore not to be sold to persons under 18 years of age.’

Anything that exceeds the criteria of Level 3 is deemed ineleigible for sale in Australia.

- The Music Council of Australia (MCA) states on its website that ‘There is indeed a ‘self-regulatory’ music industry panel, created on the instigation of the previous government, charged with classifying audio-recordings according to the content of the texts. The classification has to be shown on the packaging when offered for sale. The classification process, the Recorded Music Labelling Code of Practice, is administered by ARIA and AMRA (Australian Music Retailers’ Association).

Copyright, Licensing and Ownership Laws (as from the Australian Copyright Councils ‘Music and Copyright’ information sheet):

- Copyright is automatically granted when material is created.

- Songs normally are composed of both musical and lyrical works. They may have different intellectual owners.

- Many artists are required to register their songs with APRA (Australian Performing Right Association), however this does not grant them copyright. APRA may collect licensing fees for indipublic performance and othe use of material registered.

- As a result of the Berne Convention Australian music and lyrics are protected in most other countries without the requirement to register the property there as well.

- Generally the composer is the owner of the music and the lyricist is the owner of the lyrics, unless;

- You are under employment, your employer will usually own any work created for them under employment terms

- OR, if working as freelance you will still generally own the music but your employer has some rights to use the work created for them.

As stated by the Australian Copyright Council: ‘Copyright is infringed if someone uses copyright material in one of the ways set out in the Copyright Act without the copyright owner’s permission, unless a special exception applies. The special exceptions include fair dealings with copyright material for research or study, or for criticism or review. There are also special provisions which allow the recording of cover versions of works which have previously been commercially released, provided a royalty is paid, and special provisions for the use of copyright material by educational institutions, governments and libraries.’

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This research task didn’t explore the regulations associated with online music, only with those referring to the music recording and publishing industry.