All about copyright, understanding music licensing, and government regulations.
A large swath of streaming platforms have been hit with another lawsuit over pre-1972 royalties. The plaintiff is Ricky Spicer, a member of the group Ponderosa Twins Plus One, and he is seeking class action status for his case against Spotify, Apple, Google, SoundCloud, iHeartMedia, Pandora, and Sony Computer Entertainment. Continue Reading
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the force behind the annual Grammy Awards, announced plans to create a lobbying group dubbed the Grammy Fund for Music Creators. “We won’t be the largest PAC in Washington, but we will be the loudest,” the academy’s Daryl P. Friedman said. Continue Reading
Two collecting societies are considering a joint venture that would manage all public performance licensing in the UK. PRS For Music and PPL have announced a proposal to create a 50/50 company that would unite the licensing activities under a single roof. Continue Reading
As forewarned, the venerable webcasting platform Live365 came to an end tonight. The abrupt collapse of a pioneer in online radio is connected to the five-year cycle of music licensing royalties. The webcast landscape has been thinned of its vigor, entrepreneurism, and musical diversity. Continue Reading
This open letter is from Bill Goldsmith, Founder and Owner of Radio Paradise, one of the most venerable and recognized Internet radio stations. It is an appeal to David Byrne, as a board member of SoundExchange, to renew royalty protections that have enabled small webcasting for the past six years. Continue Reading
A German court has ruled in support of the safe harbor rules that protect YouTube against legal infringements made by its members. The Higher Regional Court Munich has decided that copyright infringements are the responsibility of the people who upload the offending material, not with YouTube as the hosting platform. Continue Reading
The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) published its acknowledgement of SoundExchange’s intent to audio the music royalty payments of Pandora and several broadcast groups. An audit sounds alarming, but in fact is a standard annual process. Continue Reading
Live365 has informed at least some of its webcasters that it will be shutting down at the end of the month. The Internet radio hosting platform laid off the bulk of its staff and left its offices at the end of December, shortly after the Copyright Royalty Board decision about new rates, and the expiration of a law protecting small webcasters, sent shockwaves through the webcasting community. Continue Reading
PRS for Music has extended its multi-territory licensing deal with YouTube. The agreement includes mechanical rights for works represented by the UK copyright agency’s MCPS and IMPEL branches. Continue Reading
Spotify has been hit with a second lawsuit in two weeks, again centered on licensing and royalties. The plaintiff is artist Melissa Ferrick, who said her songs have been streamed more than a million times without proper licensing. Continue Reading
In tomorrow’s Federal Register, the Copyright Royalty Board will announce the commencement of three new proceedings to set music royalties for the 2018-2022 five-year period, each involving a different music right. Continue Reading
The U.S. Copyright Office announced that it is undertaking a public study of the country’s safe harbor provisions. Section 512 was introduced in 1998 as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and its safe harbor laws provide some liability limitations on usage for Internet-based services. The rules focus on protecting services from liability due to copyright infringements occurring in user-generated content. Continue Reading