Indian Music Industry Rejects Meta’s Proposal for Platform Interoperability in the Metaverse

Indian Music Industry (IMI), an apex body representing music recording players, is protesting against Meta’s proposal to make metaverse interoperable.

In a statement to the telecom regulator, IMI stated that the proposal would deprive music artists of their right to earn royalty because in an interoperable environment, content licensed on one platform can be accessed on any other platform which may not have the rights to stream that content.

In a previous submission to the TRAI, Meta had suggested that “the metaverse should be developed collaboratively, and with interoperability in mind, mirroring the kind of open internet protocols we see in place today that empower people to seamlessly navigate and travel between multiple online experiences.”

In response, IMI expressed concerns about online piracy due to the potential for interoperability in the metaverse. They pointed out that interoperability enables users to access and share content across multiple services, and different platforms may have varying levels of copyright enforcement measures and policies.

IMI also noted that interoperability could complicate licensing agreements and royalties receivable by music rightsholders from music streaming services, leading to disputes and uncertainties in compensating artists and rights holders. They also raised concerns about potential copyright issues arising from users sharing copyrighted material on user-generated platforms and platforms enabled on the Metaverse itself.