As traditional entertainment companies grapple with the upheaval and uncertainty of COVID-19, tech giants Apple and Amazon are profiting handsomely during the pandemic. The tech giants on Thursday reported blockbuster results for the second quarter, the same April-to-June period that paralyzed legacy media companies.
Source: Apple, Amazon Shrug Off Streaming Production Halt In Comments To Wall Street
YouTube is embroiled in a very public spat with songwriters and music publishers in Denmark, via local collection society Koda. According to Koda – Denmark’s equivalent of ASCAP/BMI (US) or PRS For Music (UK) – YouTube has threatened to remove “Danish music content” (ie. music written by Danish songwriters) from its service.
Source: YouTube threatens to remove music videos in Denmark over songwriter royalty fallout
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property on Tuesday continued its year-long series of hearings on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), this time focusing on the question, “How Does the DMCA Contemplate Limitations and Exceptions Like Fair Use?”
Source: What’s Fair? Senate IP Subcommittee Contemplates Problems with Copyright Fair Use Regime
The pandemic dramatically shifted the power dynamics between studios and exhibitions, giving content creators more leverage in the debate over how films are made, marketed, and distributed. “Pre-coronavirus, we were marching toward shorter windows,” said Erik Gordon, an associate professor at University of Michigan. “Covid changed the balance of power so now we’re racing toward shorter windows.”
Source: Bold or Reckless? Movie Business Debates AMC and Universal’s Early VOD Deal
Source: Australia Unveils Its Plan to Make Facebook and Google Pay for News
Ahead of Spotify’s earnings call for its 2020 second-quarter results on Wednesday morning, the company’s cofounder and CEO Daniel Ek and CFO Paul Vogel got on the phone for a short call with Variety’s Jem Aswad and Todd Spangler. The conversation follows in full.
Source: Spotify’s Daniel Ek Talks Covid-19, Universal Deal, Launching in Russia and Moving Ahead
In responding to a lawsuit filed by four publishers last month, lawyers for the Internet Archive argue that the IA has made careful efforts to ensure its uses are lawful, and contend that its program to scan and lend print books from library shelves is sheltered by the fair use doctrine, and buttressed by traditional library practices and protections.
Source: Internet Archive Answers Publishers’ Copyright Lawsuit
Since the coronavirus pandemic began shuttering much of the world’s live music scene in March, many in the industry have wondered how much revenue digital livestream festivals could generate and what kind of paydays artists and headliners would earn.
Source: What Do Virtual Festivals Pay Artists? Tomorrowland Tests a New Model
Newly appointed TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer announced Wednesday that TikTok’s code will be made available for experts to study, as the company pushed back strongly against “rumors and misinformation” around its data security practices and ties to the Chinese government.
Source: TikTok CEO says platform code will be made public in pushback against