All about copyright, understanding music licensing, and government regulations.
Pandora has prevailed in an appeal case brought by ASCAP, which sought to overturn a court judgment in March, 2014. ASCAP announced in August that it would pursue an appeal of that ruling. Continue Reading
The FCC has granted Pandora broadcast approval permission to own a terrestrial radio station. This means that Pandora has cleared the major hurdle to complete its $600,000 purchase of the KXMZ station in Rapid City, South Dakota, which it started in 2013. Continue Reading
We reported on Monday that Grooveshark was facing potentially immense financial damages judgment in its drawn-out copyright infringement trial with record labels. That particular threat appears to be neutralized in a settlement which includes the final closure of Grooveshark.com, the service, and a handover of all company assets. Continue Reading
A two-year music copyright review ended yesterday, when Copyright Office chief Maria Pallante criticized terrestrial radio’s performance royalty exemption as “indefensible,” and called for change. Continue Reading
The Copyright Royalty Board has begun the hearing phase of its proceeding to set the royalties to be paid by webcasters for the years 2016-2020. Broadcast law attorney David Oxenford witnessed the day-ong event. Continue Reading
Digital music distributor TuneCore announced first-quarter results — as usual, not in terms of revenue to the company, but through the lens of payouts to musician clients. Artists earned over $36-million in Q1. Continue Reading
Yesterday in Washington, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) held an opening hearing to start the trial portion of Webcasting IV, the music royalty rate-setting process for the upcoming 2016-2020 royalty period. We spoke to sources who were in the (apparently rather small) room). Continue Reading
For nearly two years, Pandora has attempted to close its $600,000 purchase of KXMZ, a Rapid City radio station. There are signs of movement now as FCC Chair Tom Wheeler has reportedly asked FCC members for a waiver in this case. Pandora would benefit from lower music royalty costs. Continue Reading
After a six-month pause, the trial of UMG vs. Escape Media resumes today with a jury in place to set damages after a ruling of copyright infringement last September. Escape Media is the parent company of Grooveshark. the damages verdict could range as high as $736-million for the full statutory penalty. Continue Reading
The German Music Publishers Association held its annual meeting yesterday and royalty rates from streaming services were a hot topic. President Rolf Budde had some strong words about the state of compensation for songwriters. “The 60,000 composers, lyricists and music publishers must not be sacrificed on the altar of digital music,” he said. Continue Reading
Canada is extending the copyright term for sound recordings from 50 years to 70 years. The change is happening as part of the country’s 2015 budget. Many other countries, including the UK and Australia, have copyright terms of 70 years, while the U.S. term is 95 years. Continue Reading
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THIS WEEK: Anthony Bay announces Rdio Live; IFPI global music revenue report; Is Spotify worth $8.4-billion?; 6 Seconds streaming app; EFF wins podcast patent pushback. Continue Reading