The 20-year extension of copyright protection in New Zealand was negotiated as part of the Oceania nation’s newly announced trade agreement with the European Union. New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade summarized the deal, writing of the lengthier copyright period: “New Zealand has agreed to extend copyright term by 20 years for authors, performers and producers.”
Source: New Zealand Expands Copyright Length to 70 Years Under EU Trade Deal
In a big win for the publishing and songwriting community, the Copyright Royalty Board reaffirmed the 15.1% headline rate increase in royalties paid by streaming services to publishers for the 2018-22 period. While the decision was not immediately released publicly, sources and National Music Publishers Assn. president/CEO David Israelite shared that the headline rate will increase to 15.1% from 11.4% for that period, as previously decided.
Source: Copyright Royalty Board Confirms Streaming Royalty Raise for Publishers and Songwriters
In the TV broadcasting/content distribution market, companies such as Sling TV, Replay, Script TV and ZEBEDEE are pushing ahead with crypto payment transactions. The reason? “Crypto payments enable smart contracts that automatically generate payments in real time whenever video is viewed,” said Replay CEO Krish Arvapally. “For TV broadcasters and content deliverers, this eliminates the time spent tracking down and managing these payments.”
Source: TV/Media Companies are Starting to Join the Crypto Craze
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.
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
In a big win for major record labels, the Free Artists From Industry Restrictions (FAIR) Act failed to pass out of the California State Senate’s Judiciary committee late on Tuesday night. The act, also called AB Bill 983, received four votes, two short of the six needed to reach a majority from the 11-member committee.
Source: FAIR Act to Overturn California’s ‘Seven-Year Statute’ Fails in State Senate
A new paper by Amy Thomas, entitled “Can you play? An analysis of video game user-generated content policies” presents one of the first in-depth analyses of the copyright aspects of this new entertainment category, and its very particular user-generated content (UGC). As she points out, copyright has trouble dealing with game streaming.
Source: Copyright Has Failed For Game Streaming, So Alternatives Have Emerged
The creator of the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible tokens has sued an artist in Los Angeles federal court, accusing him of selling copycats that are confusing potential buyers. Yuga Labs Inc said in the Friday lawsuit that Ryder Ripps is purposely causing consumer confusion under the guise of satire and reaping millions in “ill-gotten profit” while “celebrating the harm he causes.”
Source: Bored Ape NFT maker Yuga Labs sues artist, claiming he copied tokens
As companies continue to dip into the metaverse, complex implementation questions are quickly surrounding the use of music. Part of the reason is simple: just like real life, listeners want their virtual abodes to feature their favorite music. The metaverse wouldn’t feel ‘real’ without it. But while web3 developers certainly understand tech, music infrastructure presents considerable complexity.
Source: Tuned Global on What It Takes to Layer Music Into a Web3 Project
Authors are protesting Amazon’s e-book return policy, a system they say allows readers to “steal” from self-published authors. Amazon’s current return policy for e-books allows customers to “cancel an accidental book order within seven days.” But, for some readers, seven days is more than enough time to finish a book and return it after reading, effectively treating Amazon like a library.
Source: Authors are protesting Amazon’s e-book policy that allows users to read and return