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Fractional Ownership and Copyright Licensing: Evidence from the Music Industry

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Listed:
  • Alberto Galasso
  • El Hadi Caoui

Abstract

Creative content is often the product of collaboration, which may lead to fractional ownership of intellectual property. We study the effect of fractional ownership on the licensing of copyrighted material and its reuse. To do so, we compile new data on the copyright ownership structure of songs and their licensing for use in movies. We document that fractional song ownership has increased substantially: the mean number of songwriters and publishers per song has tripled between 1958 and 2021. We show that, conditional on a rich set of controls, greater fractionalization is associated with lower likelihood of licensing. We leverage the Sony-led acquisition of EMI Music Publishing in 2012 to obtain within-song variation in ownership and find that consolidating ownership rights significantly increases licensing, beyond any standalone effects of the merger.

Suggested Citation

  • Alberto Galasso & El Hadi Caoui, 2025. "Fractional Ownership and Copyright Licensing: Evidence from the Music Industry," NBER Working Papers 34336, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34336
    Note: IO LE PR
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K11 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Property Law
    • L8 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

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