Nashville based Remix Hits has launched a hit song stem marketplace offering producers iconic songs in the form of an affordable remix-focused ‘Kontakt’ stem instrument dubbed ReleaseTM. The first wave of available song packs includes classic hits from Sony Music,
Source: Remix Hits Opens Stem Marketplace, Partners With Sony To Offer Iconic Songs
Article 13 is a new piece of legislation passed in the European Union Parliament. The new law has a significant impact on the way copyright is administered in the digital space. What are the implications of this new law for North Americans?
Even if companies strictly adhere to copyright protection, the negative effects of upload filters for society as a whole should not be underestimated: they will reinforce the gatekeeper position of the biggest platforms and have a big impact on the public discourse, not to mention the spillover effect on smaller platforms who will follow in order to not suffer from a competitive disadvantage.
Source: Good Ends, Bad Means? The EU’s Struggle To Protect Copyright and Freedom of Speech
Last week, the Council of the European Union — the EU body that represents the executive governments of its member states — signed off on the new EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. The reform seeks to ensure publishers and other copyright holders are paid their fair share when their work appears online. But critics fear it could have broader implications.
Source: What the EU’s copyright overhaul means — and what might change for big tech
The U.S. Copyright Office has completed its comprehensive study of attribution and integrity rights in the United States. The report presents an extensive review of the U.S. moral rights regime, exploring the current state of attribution and integrity interests—particularly with respect to legal and technological changes since the United States joined the Berne Convention thirty years ago.
Source: Authors, Attribution, and Integrity: Examining Moral Rights in the United States
The Songwriters of North America has submitted a letter to the Copyright Office arguing why its coalition, which also includes the National Music Publishers’ Association and the Nashville Songwriters Association International, should be chosen to form the mechanical licensing collective (MLC) created by the Music Modernization Act.
Source: Songwriters of North America Argues for Industry Coalition to Form the MLC
Monday, the Copyright Office’s deadline for receiving comments on the selection of an MLC proposal lapsed, with hundreds of comments peppering the agency’s site. Among the detailed commenters was the Nashville-based Songwriters Guild of America (SGA). The Guild is headed by songwriter and musician Rick Carnes and represents thousands of writers.
Source: Thousands of Indie Songwriters Rally Against Major Music Publishers’ ‘Industry Consensus’ MLC
The word “human” does not appear at all in US copyright law, and there’s not much existing litigation around the word’s absence. This has created a giant gray area and left AI’s place in copyright unclear. It also means the law doesn’t account for AI’s unique abilities, like its potential to work endlessly and mimic the sound of a specific artist. Depending on how legal decisions shake out, AI systems could become a valuable tool to assist creativity, a nuisance ripping off hard-working human musicians, or both.
Source: We’ve been warned about AI and music for over 50 years, but no one’s prepared
In the lawsuit, Saregama claims that, although it entered into negotiations with Spotify for a copyright license – and even permitted Spotify to upload its content a month ahead of the platform’s launch in India – the two parties never actually inked a deal.
Source: Spotify loses catalog of India’s oldest label after copyright infringement lawsuit
While Spotify was making public statements about its intentions, the company approached a number of songwriters, especially those who had been feted as Secret Geniuses and celebrated with billboards, parties and playlists collecting their hits, to start private conversations. “They called a lot of us directly trying to convince us to put down our weapons,” explains a second frustrated hit-writer. “I was misled in the communication. The truth of the situation was misrepresented to the benefit of Spotify’s perspective.”
Source: Threats, Bullying and Misinformation: Inside Spotify’s Battle With Songwriters