The 4 major broadcast networks have filed a lawsuit against Locast, a New York-based nonprofit that streams local broadcast programming over the internet. In their lawsuit, ABC, CBS, NBC Universal and Fox allege that Locast violates their copyright by retransmitting their programming without permission, likening it to Aereo, the TV retransmission startup that shut down in 2014 as the result of a similar lawsuit.
Source: Major Broadcasters Sue TV Streaming Nonprofit Locast
Dapper Labs, the leading consumer blockchain company and creator of CryptoKitties has teamed up with the National Basketball Association (NBA)\ and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) on NBA Top Shot, a new digital platform for basketball fans to collect, trade, and own some of the greatest moments in league history on blockchain.
Source: Cryptokitties Founders Bring First-of-its-Kind Blockchain Game to NBA Basketball Fans
Digital distribution technology and services company FUGA has acquired Nashville-based rights management platform Songspace for an undisclosed sum. Formed in 2014, Songspace has more than 250 publisher and record label clients including Kobalt, Reservoir Media, Downtown Music Publishing, Big Deal Music and Sentric.
Source: FUGA Acquires Nashville-Based Rights Platform Songspace
Some high powered music industry figures and recording artists that include super managers Irving Azoff and Coran Capshaw have joined forces to launch a new lobbying group that will advocate for musicians. The Coalition will focus its advocacy efforts on a number of key issues at both the state and federal level, including royalty rates, and copyright law.
Source: Azoff, Capshaw, Top Artists Form Music Artists Coalition To Give Artists “A Seat At The Table”
Boomy is eight months old as a company, and launched its system in private beta in March. Since then, people have used it to create more than 110,000 songs. The site is free to use, but offers an $8.99-a-month subscription for people who want to save and download as many songs as they like, but also to collect them into ‘albums’ – and even release those albums on streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora.
Source: Boomy Talks AI Music
A trade group representing musicians and other content creators wants Congress to take in their perspectives as it investigates the effects of large tech companies’ market power. The Artist Rights Alliance (ARA) sent a letter on Wednesday to lawmakers leading an antitrust probe into Silicon Valley’s giants, raising concerns about how large internet platforms impact the music business.
Source: Spotify Reports Subscriber Growth Amid Industry Podcast Boom
In an effort to become a more modern and technologically advanced office, the U.S. Copyright Office is working on a pilot program for its digital recordation system, beginning in the spring of 2020. Testifying in front of the Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Register of Copyrights and Director Karyn Temple laid out a few details of the program that will not only digitize the records system, but make it easier for users to gain access to historical records.
Coinbase and Props Public Benefit Corporation announced today that Props Tokens, the first consumer-facing crypto token qualified by the SEC under Reg A, are now part of the exclusive list of assets available for custody through Coinbase Custody, a platform that stores cryptocurrency for institutional clients.
Source: SEC-qualified Props Token Joins Coinbase Custody As Listed Asset
Instaudio, a file-hosting service specialized in audio, has stopped accepting new uploads. The site is shutting down completely in a few weeks. According to the site’s operator, rising costs, abuse from users and the associated legal pressure from rightsholders, are the main drivers behind this decision.
Source: File-hoster ‘Instaudio’ Announces Shutdown Citing Legal Pressure – TorrentFreak