Rights

Australian broadcasters see the potential for significant cost savings in the current year, if major sports events are canceled and remain off air. Nine Entertainment said that it would save $80 million (A$130 million) of broadcast rights costs in the calendar year to December 2020, if the National Rugby League season is scrapped.

Source: Australia’s Broadcasters Foresee Savings From Canceled Sports Events

Source: For the sports-entertainment business, coronavirus is taking a huge toll

As libraries around the U.S. shutter their physical locations to battle the outbreak of Covid-19, they are rapidly transferring budget dollars to e-books, digital audio, and other digital media to serve their communities. And the shift could prove to be a watershed moment for a digital library market where the major publishers have so far proceeded cautiously—and sometimes contentiously.

Source: Is the Covid-19 Crisis a Watershed Moment for Library E-books?

The Authors Guild is appalled by the Internet Archive’s (IA) announcement that it is now making millions of in-copyright books freely available online without restriction on its Open Library site under the guise of a National Emergency Library. IA has no rights whatsoever to these books, much less to give them away indiscriminately without consent of the publisher or author.

Source: Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library Harms Authors – The Authors Guild

Independent distributors across Europe, reeling from the cinema closures and government stay-at-home orders, have begun violating the prime directive of Euro art house cinema: They’ve broken the theatrical window. As they do so, they are creating new models for independent distribution that could outlast the current crisis.

Source: Euro Indies Break Theatrical Windows, Launch VOD Strategies Amid Coronavirus Crisis

That case and others raised serious questions about the legal protections available for music: When does homage become plagiarism? When does a common chord progression become one songwriter’s property? Songwriters and producers worried that their next hit could make them the target of a lawsuit. But the tide may be changing, after two court decisions this month addressed important aspects of how copyright applies to music.

Source: The ‘Blurred Lines’ Case Scared Songwriters. But Its Time May Be Up.

The postponement means NBCU won’t have the Olympics to help it market its Peacock service this summer, and this is a big blow for a new service that would have benefitted from reaching an audience as big as the Olympics’. In January 2020, Comcast described the Tokyo Olympics as a “massive promotional opportunity.”

Source: Olympics Deferral Plucks Feathers From NBCUniversal’s Peacock

In the U.S. digital subscriptions rose 63% in the past week compared with the same period the year before, according to subscription technology platform Piano. “Right now,  what we’re seeing is a surge in acquisitions and no evidence of any change in either active cancellations or credit card failure,” said Michael Silberman, SVP strategy, Piano. “The data suggests it’s OK to still be keeping some content behind the paywall and that readers will respond and pay for content.”

Source: Despite relaxing paywalls, publishers like Bloomberg and The Atlantic see subscription spikes – Digiday

Over the past several days, educators across the U.S. have contacted CCC with questions about using copyrighted content and materials in innovative new ways to support distance learning. In response, CCC is coordinating with its community of rightsholders to authorize the use of their materials at no cost by educators as required by the pandemic during this time of emergency.

Source: Copyright Clearance Center Launches Education Continuity License (press release)