In an important ruling, the English High Court has recognized for the first time that there is an arguable case that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are to be treated as property under English law. This means that the powerful proprietary remedies available to victims of cryptocurrency fraud are also available to NFT fraud victims.
June, 2022
Ethereum NFT Trading Volume Falls By 70% in June
The total volume of Ethereum NFT trades has declined by 55% in the past month, from 1.3 million ETH to just 584,000 ETH, according to Nansen data. That’s a drop from just under $2.6 billion to about $672 million, which is roughly a 70% decrease when valued in USD. Ethereum’s price has fallen about 43% in the past month. “Blue chip” NFT prices haven’t risen to compensate, however, meaning less money is changing hands overall.
Source: Ethereum NFT Trading Volume Falls By 70% in June—But Number of Sales Steady – Decrypt
Universal buys Frank Zappa recordings, song catalog and complete contents of ‘The Vault’ housing 1,000+ hours of film and video
UMG has acquired Frank Zappa’s recordings, publishing catalog, film archive, and the complete contents of The Vault, the storage facility that houses the late Zappa’s life’s work. The acquisition also includes Frank Zappa’s name and likeness. With the acquisition, UMG says that its global catalog company Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) will now “build on the company’s already successful track record of working with the Zappa Trust to amplify Frank Zappa’s career”.
How Sync Jobs Are Creating New Opportunities for Artists
More people are making video content than ever before, which has made certain production tools more common and accessible…not unlike how music production has really opened up in the past 10 years. With more people making higher quality content, the need for high quality music is skyrocketing. Royalty free music companies are looking for ways to grow their libraries to attract customers, and that’s good news for musicians looking to make money via sync licensing.
Source: How Sync Jobs Are Creating New Opportunities for Artists
Many Hollywood Stocks Underperform Broader Market in First Half of Year
A tough first half of the year for U.S. media stocks has come to a merciless end. Stock sell-offs and analyst downgrades have been a regular feature of the year to date for media and entertainment giants. And Netflix’s surprise first-quarter subscriber decline has only raised questions about whether broader Hollywood’s streaming pivot will pay off over time.
Source: Many Hollywood Stocks Underperform Broader Market in First Half of Year
Jaxsta One Sheet, Official Music Resume, Artist EPK
Whether you represent talent, or are promoting yourself, you need a great one sheet. Jaxsta’s latest feature takes the pain out of creating and maintaining one sheets by updating your official data automatically. Never miss an opportunity to be booked for gigs, media, brand partnerships, sync, collaborations and more!
Op-Ed: The Decentralization Paradox
A decentralized internet still largely under the control of huge, centralized businesses is…. erm…. clearly not a decentralized internet. Big businesses are elbows out and pushing for their Metaverse patch, and rightly so as they can feel the fresh winds of change blowing through Rights Owner Alley. Things are being disrupted. For large scale businesses, decentralization is a threat because they can’t buy it, and to embrace it they have to change, and big boats turn slowly.
Source: The Decentralisation Paradox
Can Artificial Intelligence Be Creative?
Some have claimed AI is creative. But “creativity” is a fuzzy term. To talk fruitfully about creativity, the term must be defined so that everyone is talking about the same thing and no one is bending the meaning to fit their purpose. Let’s explore what creativity is, and it will become clear that, properly defined, AI is no more creative than a pencil.
Source: Can Artificial Intelligence Be Creative? | Evolution News
SoundExchange sues Slacker and parent LiveOne over unpaid royalties to creators
US performance rights organization SoundExchange has sued Slacker, Inc. and parent company LiveOne in the US over unpaid royalties owed to performers and rights owners. In the lawsuit, filed in California Central District Court on Tuesday (June 28), SoundExchange claims that Slacker stopped paying statutory royalties to creators in 2017.
Source: SoundExchange sues Slacker and parent company LiveOne over unpaid royalties to creators
UK to amend copyright law to enable data mining
Following this consultation, the UK government intends to amend copyright law to make it easier to analyse material for the purposes of machine learning, research and innovation. This will promote the use of AI technology, and wider “data mining” techniques, for the public good. he Government intends that anyone with lawful access to material protected by copyright should be able to carry out this analysis without further permission from the copyright owner.
Source: Artificial Intelligence and IP: copyright and patents