If an artificially intelligent system creates a new product, should patent offices recognize it as the inventor? That’s the question at the center of a case making its way through patent offices in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, one that business leaders and lawyers say is posing fundamental questions that could alter how centuries-old patent systems around the world operate.
Will The Music Industry Ever Catch Up With the Internet?
Source: Will The Music Industry Ever Catch Up With the Internet?
Katy Perry Appeals $2.78 Million ‘Dark Horse’ Copyright Case Ruling
Lawyers for Perry reiterated many of the core arguments of their defense in the new filing, including that the only claimed similarities between the two songs are small “indisputably commonplace elements,” that the plaintiffs lack a copyright registration for the beat in question itself, and that the plaintiffs didn’t prove that the authors of “Dark Horse” could have had access to “Joyful Noise” prior to writing the pop song.
Source: Katy Perry Appeals $2.78 Million ‘Dark Horse’ Copyright Case Ruling
Unlike Many Music Competitions, ‘Rhythm + Flow’ Contestants Aren’t Required to Sign Contracts
Unlike many TV music competitions, contestants on Netflix’s hip-hop show “Rhythm + Flow” aren’t required to sign contracts. “We took our own unique approach, compared to what you see on linear [television],” Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s vice president of nonfiction series and comedy specials, tells Variety. “There is no label deal.
Source: Unlike Many Music Competitions, ‘Rhythm + Flow’ Contestants Aren’t Required to Sign Contracts
Trump official declines to testify on trade protections for tech
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer declined an invitation to speak before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about the administration’s decision to include protections for Silicon Valley in trade pacts like the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and a recently signed deal with Japan.
Source: Trump official declines to testify on trade protections for tech
Ebook Pirate Fined & Handed 20-Day Suspended Sentence
A man from Denmark has been handed a 20-day suspended prison sentence for selling pirated ebooks via the Internet. The 26-year-old was caught by anti-piracy outfit Rights Alliance, whose investigator made a covert purchase and reported the activity to the police. Several similar cases are pending.
Source: Ebook Pirate Fined & Handed 20-Day Suspended Sentence – TorrentFreak
New blockchain-based music streaming service Audius is a copyright nightmare
Audius is trying to avoid SoundCloud’s copyright issues by not hosting the user-uploaded content itself. Its open-source protocol, built on blockchain, means that the responsibility of hosting and making uploaded content available is spread out among people who register as node operators. They say this method should protect them from liability and the claws of major labels. This is actually an open question.
Source: New blockchain-based music streaming service Audius is a copyright nightmare
Entertainment bundles are coming: the question is the terms
Apple wants to launch a new model of paying for music, and major labels are ‘wary’ of the implications. No, you haven’t time-travelled back to the early 2000s and the negotiations ahead of the launch of the iTunes Store, album-unbundling included. What’s causing the wariness in 2019 is the prospect of what the Financial Times describes as a ‘super-bundle of media content’ combining Apple Music with the soon-to-launch Apple TV+ video-streaming service.
Source: Entertainment bundles are coming: the question is the terms – Music Ally
Common and Michael Huppe: It’s Time for Radio to Pay Music Creators
The Music Modernization Act did away with a patchwork of special deals, grandfathered rules, and politically-driven discounts that had worked their way into our laws over the past century at the behest of digital music services. But the MMA didn’t fix everything.
Source: Common and Michael Huppe: It’s Time for Radio to Pay Music Creators (Guest Column)
SoundExchange Website to Let Artists Search and Claim Unmatched Recordings
In a move to bring more transparency and potentially help reduce black-box royalties, SoundExchange is updating its website to allow artists and labels to now see all recordings currently associated with their accounts.
Source: SoundExchange Website to Let Artists Search and Claim Unmatched Recordings