Rights

Websites offering up free — and not always legal — music flourished in the gap between the fall of the CD era and the rise of streaming. That freedom unlocked an era of unfettered creativity for a generation of artists and built a critical digital-first audience that would later lead to rap’s dominance in streaming. It also led to the current dilemma: How do you preserve a part of hip-hop history that isn’t necessarily legal?

Source: Mixtape Sites Like DatPiff Propelled Rap. Can They Be Preserved?

Jose “Chenel” Teran, a leader in perhaps the largest known YouTube music royalty scam in history, was sentenced to 70 months in prison on Monday. Though the official legal document has yet to be made publicly available, the news was verified by an IRS agent who worked on the case. Teran claimed approximately 50,000 song titles that he and his company MediaMuv had no ownership rights to over the course of about five years.

Source: YouTube Fraudster Sentenced to Nearly 6 Years in Prison for $23M Royalty Scheme

With four days to go before the contract deadline, SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood studios are at odds over the issue of higher pay for hit streaming series. One of the key stumbling blocks is the issue of a viewership-based streaming residual, which was also on the list of demands from the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike against AMPTP companies since May 2.

Source: SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood Studios Still at Odds Over Higher Residuals for Hit Streaming Shows

Recent decisions by prominent platforms Blur and OpenSea to remove royalties have sparked a contentious debate. The crux of the argument is this: the removal of royalties, while seemingly an opportunity for traders, has inadvertently set the NFT ecosystem back by removing an essential source of liquidity for projects.

Source: The Unforeseen Consequences of Removing Royalties: A Look at the NFT Ecosystem | NFT CULTURE | NFT News | Web3 Culture | NFTs & Crypto Art

A bipartisan Congressional Songwriters Caucus has been reformed, with a focus on policies that support independent songwriters and intellectual property protections. Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Congressman Ben Cline (R-VA) relaunched the caucus and will serve as co-chairs. To celebrate the event, both Congressmen welcomed songwriters and representatives from songwriter advocacy groups to Capitol Hill.

Source: Bipartisan Congressional Songwriters Caucus Relaunched

In 2015, when a jury ruled that the team behind Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” infringed on a Marvin Gaye copyright, it seemed to usher in a new era of caution for songwriters. But a recent legal decision in favor of Ed Sheeran, ruling that he did not infringe on a different Gaye copyright, sends a different message. Does the Sheeran case signal a shift in how such cases are turning out?

Source: After the Ed Sheeran Verdict, Have the Tides Turned in Music Copyright Cases?

Canada’s Parliament approved legislation to compel digital companies to compensate domestic media outlets for links to their articles, a move Facebook said would force it to block access to news reports on its platform for Canadian users as it did two years ago in Australia. Google, owned by Alphabet, also has signaled possible restrictions of news content on its search function in Canada as a result of the legislation.

Source: ​Canada Passes Law Forcing Facebook, Google to Pay Media for Links

Live Nation, AEG, and the North American Concert Promoters Association (NACPA) have lodged an appeal against BMI‘s recent triumph in its rate court litigation that saw songwriters getting a 138% increase in royalties in the US to 0.5% of every live event’s revenue. In March, BMI emerged victorious after New York District Court Judge Louis Stanton ruled in favor of the company’s proposed 0.5% rate for gross ticket sales in the US, including retroactive rates for the 2013-2017 period. 

Source: BMI rate court victory challenged by live concert industry titans

The Senate Judiciary Committee revived the prospects for a long-proposed bill that would bolster print and broadcast news outlets in their negotiations with tech giants. The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday in a 14-7 vote. Lawmakers who champion the legislation, led by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), say that it is needed in the face of the decline of local journalism.

Source: Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Journalism Bill To Bolster Newspapers, TV Stations Despite Facebook Threat

A group of 17 music publishers sued Twitter on Wednesday, accusing it of copyright infringement on about 1,700 songs, and is seeking as much as $250 million in damages, the latest headache for the social media platform owned by Elon Musk. “Twitter stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license the millions of songs on its service,” David Israelite, the president of the National Music Publishers’ Association, a trade group, said in a statement.

Source: Music Publishers Sue Twitter, Accusing It of Copyright Infringement