The Safe Harbor We Actually Need: Pandemic Liability
We need Congress to implement a nation-wide limitation on liability for live events that are responsibly managed.
It Finally Happened: United States v. Google Demonstrates the Real Value Gap
The United States of America, acting under the direction of the Attorney General of the United States, and the States of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, and Texas, acting through their respective Attorneys General, bring this action under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2, to […]
Controlled Compositions Clauses and Frozen Mechanicals
BMG announced they will be rolling back at least some aspects of what’s called “controlled compositions” clauses in (presumably) their record deals. This is good, and is another example of how BMG is setting the gold standard for courageously defending their writers. Don’t forget, BMG sued Cox Communications for failing to maintain a repeat infringer […]
The Supreme Court Should See Through Google’s Industrial-Strength Fair Use Charade
Google’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court of two Federal Circuit decisions in Oracle’s favor is turning into the most consequential copyright case of the court’s term — if not the decade. The appeal turns in part on whether the Supreme Court will uphold the Federal Circuit’s definition of fair use for creators and reject Google’s dubious assertion of “industrial strength” fair use.
Spotify’s Got Another Artist Relations Issue: Joe Rogan
Remember when Spotify bought Joe Rogan’s podcast and signed him to deliver futures? Big money, big press release. Big chuckles in some quarters, why? Welcome to the world of artist relations, Mr. Ek. Here’s a suggestion. When you sign an artist who you know is controversial going in, expect…you know…controversy. Is that really so hard […]
Notes and Materials on TikTok from MusicBiz Conference
I was pleased to moderate a panel on TikTok’s situation for the Music Business Association with an all-star panel of experts. You can access our voluminous panel materials here including the panelists biographies. The following is my opening statement followed by the panel outline with some page number cross references to the panel materials. Opening […]
Welcome Shira and Thank You Maria
The new head of the Copyright Office is Shira Perlmutter. Shira was already a very accomplished copyright lawyer when I first met her at the Fordham international copyright gathering in 1999. She gave a very polite but rapier-like takedown of one Andrew Bridges who was being very…well…Andrew Bridges about something. (A role that works for […]
TikTok’s Buyer Just Got Another Problem: Child Facial Recognition Class Action–MusicTech.Solutions
[This post first appeared on MusicTech.Solutions] There is a long line of copyright infringement cases that demonstrate how hard it is to right a situation that starts out wrong. In addition to TikTok’s copyright problems which it is frantically trying to buy its way out of, TikTok also has a problem with how it treats […]
This is the Only Question for the Next Head of the Copyright Office
At some point in the coming days, there will be an announcement for the new head of the U.S. Copyright Office. I fully expect that everyone will have their litmus test for whether the new person (called the “Register” for historical reasons that have probably outlived their usefulness) should be appointed. The fact is that […]
@SGAWrites and Society of Composers & Lyricists Proposal for Secret Deals — Artist Rights Watch
[Editor Charlie sez: Here’s an excerpt from the important joint comment by the Songwriters Guild and the Society of Composers & Lyricists to the Copyright Office about how to address the previously secret deals between digital music services and publishers (called the “Negotiated Agreements”. Read the full comment here.].] With potentially hundreds of millions of dollars […]
