The DOJ lawsuit to block the Simon & Schuster-Penguin Random House merger alleges harm to consumers — the standard claim that the government has been making for decades in antitrust cases — in the form of less variety and fewer books. But that wasn’t prosecutors’ main theory of the case. They press arguments that the deal will harm workers by giving the newly merged entity “outsized influence over who and what is published and how much authors are paid for their work.”
Source: As Feds Take Aim at Books Megadeal, Their Tactics May Be Used Against Hollywood
It’s hard to think of a more brain-deadening topic than the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board’s proceedings over the rates for music streaming. But deep in the dense legalese lies a heated battle over the billions of dollars in royalties generated by streaming services — one that pits the music industry against some of the biggest companies in the world.
In its Q2 results announced today (July 27), Spotify has confirmed that it added 6 million net Premium subscribers to its user base in Q2, taking its total global subs up to 188 million. That was bigger than the 5 million subscribers SPOT previously told investors it was expecting to add in the second quarter. It also means that, with2 million net subscriber adds banked in Q1, Spotify added a total of 8 million additional net Premium subscribers in the first six months of 2022.
The CMA has confirmed that it has made a preliminary decision not to pursue a full-scale investigation into the music streaming industry in the UK. (Or, at least, it has issued a “proposal” not to do so; its final, final decision will be taken on August 19.) The CMA has, for the past six months, been conducting a light-touch ‘market study’ into streaming economics in the UK, which would ultimately decide whether a full-blown investigation was required.