Rights

Ed Sheeran has beaten a lawsuit in the UK over the alleged infringement of his single Shape of You. The case was brought against Sheeran by a British artist called Sami Chokri (aka Sami Switch), who claimed that Sheeeran ripped off his song Oh Why, which was released in 2015. The verdict was delivered in Sheeran’s favor in a UK High Court on Wednesday (April 6).

Source: Ed Sheeran wins copyright lawsuit in the UK

Like most artists toiling in obscurity, most NFT artworks similarly do not command millions. Any investor considering the NFT field needs to keep in mind that, even if the technology is sound and perhaps revolutionary, the market can still be murky and mercurial. That is, of course, a feature of the traditional art world, too.

Source: Opinion: Lessons from my failed attempt to buy the NFT rights to physical art

The policy was announced within UMG’s Environment Social Governance (ESG) report, included in its Annual Report 2021, which was published Thursday. In the report, UMG says it will be launching what it calls a “worldwide goodwill program for certain legacy featured recording artists and songwriters”.

Source: Confirmed: Universal IS disregarding unrecouped balances for heritage artists

Maryland state attorneys have declined to appeal a preliminary injunction issued last month that bars the state’s library e-book law from being enforced. This week, the court ordered the state to show cause as to why a permanent injunction should not be issued.

Source: Maryland Library E-book Law Faces Permanent Injunction

Recently we’ve seen a rash of NFTs associated with popular artists or their songs being offered to the public apparently without the artist’s or copyright holder’s knowledge, involvement, or permission. These sites are charging exorbitant prices for these NFTs, promising ownership in a “unique song recording” and often featuring album art or artist photos to lure in unsuspecting fans.

Source: RIAA Chairman: Market for Music-Related NFTs Must Protect Artists and Fans (Guest Column)

Higher interest rates could hurt demand for music catalogs if investors are able to find attractive yields elsewhere, or switch to inflation-indexed assets such as certain types of real estate. Inflation, currently running at 7.9% in the U.S., will reduce the purchasing power of future cash flows generated by music catalogs.

Source: Music Fans Are Drowning Out the Fed

Four years after Judith Sheindlin, CBS and others were sued by a producer from the early seasons of the Judge Judy series and the estate of another producer over profits from the big bucks sale of the show’s library, the almost lucratively esoteric dispute looks to have come to the end of the legal road, at least for now.

Source: Judge Judy & CBS Win Battle Over Profits From Sale Of Syndicated Series’ Library

Minters of collectible non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have taken a wide range of approaches. In addition to variations in the means of distribution, token standards, governing smart contracts and platforms on which initial sales or transfers are made, the terms, conditions and content licenses (or lack thereof) under which users take possession of an NFT often differ from project to project.

Source: Roots of Confusion Over “v1” CryptoPunks NFTs Raise Key Copyright and Practical Considerations for NFT Minters, Acquirers and Platform Operators

The longstanding 9.1 cent mechanical royalty songwriters and publishers earn for every song sold may be a thing of the past. On Tuesday (March 29), the Copyright Royalty Board agreed to abandon that mechanical settlement between music publishers, record labels and digital services for the sale of songs for the upcoming 2023-2027 rate period, giving way to a new battle over what the rate should be for physical and download sales.

Source: The 9.1 Cent Mechanical Royalty Rate Ditched in New CRB Ruling

SoundExchange, which said last summer that it had paid out $947 million to creators during the 2020 fiscal year, just recently unveiled this latest performance-royalty milestone. Worth noting here is that the non-profit communicated that it had distributed “nearly $8 billion” as of late June of 2021.

Source: SoundExchange Announces $235MM In Q1 ’22 Payouts, 150th Distribution