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by emmett 4739 days ago
But without copyright, Pandora could simply copy the music and sell the service without paying any royalty at all. It's only by government fiat that Pandora has any costs, period. Copyright hasn't been nullified, it's just been altered.

Without congress, Pandora wouldn't have to negotiate with anyone at all, because there wouldn't be any copyright on the music to stop them.

You can argue that compulsory licensing is good or bad for artists/distributors/consumers in the long run, and it's an interesting debate. But it's not like there's some default natural right that is being violated here.