Department of Justice

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Artist and consumer rights organizations petition Justice Department to block Liberty Media/iHeart deal

Posted on by Anna Washenko

Liberty Media is a powerful force in music, with holdings in Sirius XM, Pandora, and Live Nation/Ticketmaster. After the Sirius XM and Pandora deal closed, the rumors turned next to Liberty having an interest in iHeartMedia. A group of consumer rights advocates and an artists’ rights organization have teamed up to send a letter to the Justice Department to oppose that possible acquisition. Continue Reading →

Public comment closes on Justice Department’s consent decree review, revealing more industry division

Posted on by Anna Washenko

The Department of Justice has closed the open comment period for its review of the consent decrees governing ASCAP and BMI. Both of the performing rights organizations have submitted their views on the subject, as have other groups from the music and audio industry. Even though the topic was recently addressed by the DOJ, the sector still has deeply divided interests in how these rules may or may not change. Continue Reading →

Department of Justice begins review of consent decrees; ASCAP and BMI respond

Posted on by Anna Washenko

The U.S. Department of Justice has officially opened a new review of the consent decrees governing ASCAP and BMI. Both performance rights organizations have operated their copyright management systems under these rules for more than 75 years. The review will examine whether the decrees should continue in their current state, receive modifications, or be ended entirely. Continue Reading →

BMI wins out over Justice Department in appeals court ruling

Posted on by Anna Washenko

BMI announced that a Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled in its favor, meaning the preforming rights organization will be able to continue its use of fractional licensing. That’s a big win for BMI, although understanding why requires some review of legal proceedings and details from the past 18 months. Continue Reading →

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Department of Justice confirms its consent decree ruling: No changes

Posted on by Anna Washenko

It’s official. The Department of Justice has released the final ruling for its review of performing rights organization consent decrees, which includes “full-works licensing” and prohibits withdrawal of digital rights from bundled licenses. Both ASCAP and BMI are already mounting their responses. Continue Reading →

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DoJ announces consent decree decision: No change, plus a new rule

Posted on by Brad Hill

The U.S. Department of Justice has completed its much anticipated two-year review of consent decrees — decades-old laws which govern how ASCAP and BMI are permitted to license music on behalf of songwriters, composers, and publishers. The bottom line: No change, and a blow to the two major performing rights organizations (PROs) which have lobbied for more flexible control of rights management, especially in the streaming era. Continue Reading →

ASCAP goes public with licensable share data

Posted on by Anna Washenko

ASCAP has added information about the share of public performance rights it controls to its publicly available online ACE Database. According to the press release announcing the update, the database changes will support ASCAP’s request to the Justice Department for its members to have greater choice to withdraw certain digital rights. Continue Reading →

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How Misunderstandings about Big Numbers Distort the Debate over Songwriter Digital Music Royalties

Posted on by David Oxenford

by David Oxenford

Barely a day goes by without seeing some article about a songwriter whose song was played a million times on a digital music service like Pandora or Spotify, with the artist only receiving a relatively small amount of royalty revenue from that seemingly large number of plays. A number of issues are misunderstood — especially about big numbers. Continue Reading →