Music licensing platform Songtradr has acquired Big Sync Music, a London-based agency that provides music licensing and rights management services to major brands for advertising campaigns. The companies said the acquisition was a multi-million dollar cash and equity transaction.
February, 2019
Graham Seeks DOJ Meeting Before Decision on ASCAP/BMI Consent Decrees
Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has asked the Justice Department to hold off on lifting the consent decrees on music licensing groups ASCAP and BMI until he has had a chance to discuss them with antitrust chief Makan Delrahim. In a letter this week to Delrahim, Graham said the decrees appeared still to be working well.
Source: Graham Seeks DOJ Meeting Before Decision on ASCAP/BMI Consent Decrees
‘Carlton Dance’ Too Simple To Copyright says Copyright Office
In a setback in actor and dance innovator Alfonso Ribeiro’s battle against game creators, the U.S. Copyright Office has ruled that his “Carlton Dance” cannot be copyrighted. According to an email obtained by CBS, the Copyright Office rejected Riberio’s copyright for the dance saying that it represented a “simple dance routine” rather than a work of choreography.
Source: ‘Carlton Dance’ Too Simple To Copyright says Copyright Office
TV industry calls for Facebook news feed transparency and journalism tax breaks
Facebook should be compelled to identify trusted sources of Australian news and be more transparent about what it chooses to appear in its news feed, TV broadcasters have told the competition watchdog’s inquiry into digital platforms. The free-to-air TV industry has also asked for tax breaks for Australian news producers – a “news production tax offset” – and a new regime to ensure Facebook and Google are accountable for paying local content producers a fair rate of advertising revenue.
Source: TV industry calls for Facebook news feed transparency and journalism tax breaks
Op-Ed: New EU copyright legislation – Clumsy, obsolete, or dangerous?
The EU is definitely doing the right thing in theory, in attempting to deliver value for copyright owners. Anyone who produces copyright material will tell you equally enthusiastically that getting money for their copyrighted materials is very difficult. That said, there is one massive obstacle to the EU proposal – Everybody knows how the current system works. Creating a new system, without any particular precedent, and without a clear cut “what’s okay and what’s not okay” legal definition is going to be extremely difficult.
Source: Op-Ed: New EU copyright legislation – Clumsy, obsolete, or dangerous?
EU Commission Deletes Article 13 Post Because ‘Mob’ Understood it Incorrectly
On Friday, the EU Commission published a piece on Medium that suggested that Google has taken over the minds of millions of citizens, rendering them incapable of thinking for themselves in their opposition of Article 13. The piece was later deleted with a note implying that people simply aren’t capable of understanding the subtle nuances of the English language.
Source: EU Commission Deletes Article 13 Post Because ‘Mob’ Understood it Incorrectly – TorrentFreak
The Record Label of The Future is No Label At All
Spotify’s acquisitions of Gimlet and Anchor signal ambitious plans to disintermediate the music industry. Spotify is using podcasts to validate their ability to use technology to disintermediate the process of producing, distributing, and optimizing music in a way that is cost effective and provides the least points of friction given their current reliance on record labels.
Source: The Record Label of The Future is No Label At All – Denisha Kuhlor – Medium
Publisher, Author Groups Protest Library Book Scanning Program
More than 36 organizations from around the world have spoken out against a library book scanning program known as controlled digital lending, dubbing the practice systematic infringement. Edward Hasbrouck, co-chair of the NWU’s Book Division appealed for “a dialogue among writers, authors, publishers, and librarians on how to enable and create the digital libraries we all want, in ways that fully respect authors’ rights.”
Source: Publisher, Author Groups Protest Library Book Scanning Program
Tech Industry and Activists Still Hope to Sink New EU Copyright Rules
The EU’s big institutions have agreed a final version of the new Copyright Directive, leaving many appalled at its implications. “We fear the law could harm online innovation, scaleups, and restrict online freedoms in Europe,” said Christian Borggreen, a vice president at the Computer & Communications Industry Association, whose members include Google, Facebook and Amazon. “We urge governments and members of the European Parliament to thoroughly assess the consequences of this text before officially adopting it.”
Source: Tech Industry and Activists Still Hope to Sink New EU Copyright Rules
‘New’ Article 13 Drawing Music Industry Approval, GEMA, Impala, PRS All Say ‘Yes’
Article 13, once viewed as a tough protective measure for intellectual property owners, had been overly watered down and neutered according to critics. But that was before the Article was reshaped by a Franco-German working group, and approved earlier this week. Now, organizations that once opposed the laws are approving the updated Directive.