All about copyright, understanding music licensing, and government regulations.
ASCAP announced this morning that Mark Sperling, a seasoned executive with strategy, partnership, and merger specialties, will join the performing rights organization as SVP, Strategy and Business Development. Sperling has a deep financial transaction background in mergers, partnerships, and IPOs. Continue Reading
Judge Philip Gutierrez has chosen not to add the latest pre-1972 royalty lawsuit to his docket. ABS Entertainment filed a suit against CBS, Cumulus, and iHeartMedia in an effort to collect royalties for those radio groups’ use of songs recorded prior to the adoption of federal copyright law. The plaintiff tried to have the case transferred to Gutierrez since it focused on potential infringement under the same statute as the suit filed by Flo & Eddie against Sirius XM. Continue Reading
Traditional radio is now a litigation target over music licensing of pre-1972 recordings, thanks to an action filed in a California state court by ABS Entertainment. Will the lawsuit reach beyond the webcast streams of the radio groiups targeted? Continue Reading
Apple has filed a patent application for a concept of gifting “digital mixed tapes” that could be a future addition to its music department. The application suggests a system for creating customized complication albums and then gifting them to another person. These albums could include some unique features, such as revealing a track’s title only as it is played or limiting the ability to fast forward. The patent also suggests options for incorporating multimedia content to the audio experience. Continue Reading
SoundExchange announced that it has surpassed $3 billion in digital royalties paid to recording artists and labels since 2003. Last year, the organization issued payments of $773 million, representing about 16% of total revenue from the entire U.S. recorded music industry. Continue Reading
The IFPI has thrown its hat into the ring to discuss streaming royalties paid to artists. The group’s CEO Frances Moore penned a blog post about this delicate subject based on IFPI’s own research into the music industry’s financial situation. “The issue is not that artists are getting lower royalty payments from digital services – they are not – but that the overall recorded music market has shrunk, which means smaller revenues for all involved,” she wrote. Continue Reading
A federal judge has denied Pandora’s request to reverse an earlier rate-setting ruling, and allow Pandora to pay lower music royalties to BMI. The decision is a mile-marker along a twisting path that involves the market-leading Internet radio service (Pandora), both government-regulated PROs (BMI and ASCAP), and South Dakota radio station KXMZ. Continue Reading
Another chapter in the saga between Sirius XM and Flo & Eddie has unfolded and potentially concluded. Following the satellite radio company’s settlement with the RIAA for $210 million in royalties for playing songs recorded before federal copyright law took effect, the former Turtles members tried to argue that the settlement would impede its class action efforts against Sirius. The duo made an effort to change the settlement payout, but yesterday received a ruling that the deal with the RIAA did not impact Flo & Eddie’s class action efforts. Continue Reading
The Radio Music Licensing Committee and performing rights organization SESAC have reached a settlement in the antitrust lawsuit filed by RMLC in 2012. The suit alleged that SESAC, which is privately owned and not subject to government oversight like ASCAP or BMI, had essentially monopolized the music it licenses. Continue Reading
Three European rights agencies have inked an agreement to form a joint venture and launch a hub for digital rights. The participants are PRS for Music in the UK, GEMA in Germany, and STIM in Sweden. The goal of this hub is to make digital rights management faster and more efficient for single- and multi-territory licenses. Continue Reading
Universal Music Publishing Group has made updates to its Royalty Window portal, a B2B tool offering transparency into royalty collection. The new features include balance updates as royalties are processed during a period and requests for advances against incoming royalties without any additional fee. Continue Reading
Tidal is in the midst of a lawsuit regarding rapper Lil Wayne, who launched the “Free Weezy Album” on the streaming platform as an exclusive earlier this month. Cash Money Records, Lil Wayne’s longtime label, is suing Tidal for $50 million on allegations that it still has exclusive rights to Lil Wayne’s music. Continue Reading