[Editor Charlie sez: In honor of the new PRS-YouTube license in the UK, we’re reposting this harrowing first hand account of the first YouTube/PRS negotiation. For PRS members, there’s a good chance that this post has more information about your deal than you’ll ever get anywhere else because your rates are–you know–confidential and stuff. This […]
When Kim Dot Com was arrested, a reporter asked me if I was surprised. This reaction completely went against the mood of the moment about the fellow. You’re not? (Incredulous) Why not? (Scandalized). Because if you get down on your knees and beg to be punished, don’t be surprised if you are. I have the […]
As MTP readers will recall, Google is locked in the proverbial death struggle with the European Commission over antitrust complaints of Google’s anticompetitive behavior. Those complaints resulted in an antitrust investigation going back several years. For Google, winning that investigation would look like palming off as real change some ice in winter changes to their business […]
There is something comforting about hearing the Speaker of the House of Commons crying “Order, order” and having the MPs actually heed that instruction. It’s particularly comforting in light of the tragic wilding that has been occurring in the ancient city of London, the font of British civility and civilization. But the rioting in London is really the […]
Now that the WIPO and OAS report on the economic contributions of copyright has been released, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (of which Google is a dominant member) is recirculating one of those greenhouse studies that comes with more than the usual ration of gas: “Fair Use in the U.S. Economy: Economic Contribution of Industries Relying on […]
More on this later, but the United States opposes the Google Books settlement. So kind it is almost sarcastic: “[I]t should not be a surprise that the parties did not anticipate all of the difficult legal issues such anambitious undertaking might raise….As presently drafted, theProposed Settlement does not meet the legal standards this Court must […]
Like the tar baby, the Google Books settlement agreement often raises more questions than it answers. Take something simple–unclaimed funds. Some of you may recall the shock and awe of Elliot Spitzer’s attack on the music industry–that is the attack on the music industry relating to royalties that were earned but unpaid due to a […]
Today is the opt-out deadline for the Google Books settlement and the Leviathan of Moutain View has had a busy week for enemy-making. The Syndicat National de l’Edition, which is the French book publishers association, and the Federal Republic of Germany, both filed briefs opposing the settlement on similar grounds–it violates every copyright treaty known […]
The Google Books settlement (which is currently being investigated by the Department of Justice, among other people) clearly includes sheet music. How you may ask? Thank your friendly librarians…and see Music Publishing and the Google Books Settlement and Why Music Publishers and their Licensees Should Care About the Google Books Settlement The National Music Publishers […]
This just in: According to FT, “The US Department of Justice has begun informal enquiries into at least one aspect of Google’s sweeping settlement of lawsuits from book publishers and authors, according to two people familiar with the discussions.” Oopsie.
