Twitch will strike up a partnership with independent digital music licensing group Merlin, marking the Amazon-owned livestreaming platform’s latest effort to get cozy with the recording industry. Merlin and Twitch note that the partnership will “unlock live experiences worldwide” and open new marketing channels for Merlin members, including through Twitch’s incubator for musicians, The Collective.
Source: Twitch partners with indie music licensing group Merlin
The reality that Sundance has become a playground for streamers, many of whom have content libraries to fill and cash to burn, isn’t exactly new. But the trend has become increasingly noticeable during the pandemic, which shook up the movie theater business and perhaps permanently shifted audience’s already changing tastes.
Source: Has Sundance Become a Film Festival for Streaming Services?
Illinois has become the latest state to introduce a library e-book bill, with state legislators last week introducing the Equitable Access to Electronic Literature Act. In addition, Rhode Island legislators have re-introduced its library e-book bill in the new legislative session after a previous effort stalled last year.
Source: Illinois, Rhode Island Introduce New Library E-book Bills
Twitter’s semi-annual transparency report reveals that the number of takedown notices received by the service continues to go up. However, the percentage of ‘withheld’ tweets and media has dropped to an all-time low. Roughly two-thirds of all requests are rejected, as they are either incomplete, fraudulent or not actionable.
Source: Twitter Now ‘Rejects’ Most Copyright Takedown Requests * TorrentFreak
Universal Music Group, Twitch and Amazon Music have announced an expansion of the companies’ agreements. According to the announcement, the agreements will provide customers with enhanced access to some of the world’s most popular music content on Amazon, including live streams, high quality and spatial audio, artist merchandise, and exclusive experiences with UMG’s industry leading roster of artists from around the world.
Source: Universal Music Expands Relationship With Twitch and Amazon Music
With the looming retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer, tech policy wonks say the high court is losing one of the nation’s preeminent thought leaders on intellectual property and copyright. Corynne McSherry, legal director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, called Breyer “a very strong voice for a balanced intellectual property system” that ensured that copyright and patents are “encouraging innovation… as opposed to thwarting it.”
Source: Analysis | Stephen G. Breyer may shape tech’s copyright battles for years to come
San Francisco-based technology firm Feed Media Group (FMG), a B2B music licensing subscription service, has signed a music licensing deal with Beggars Group for its Adaptr product. Adaptr is a subscription-based platform that allows startups to integrate music into their apps.
Source: Beggars Group inks licensing deal with music licensing platform Adaptr
New York-based Reservoir Media has acquired the publishing and recorded music catalogs of two-time Grammy award-winning Country singer-songwriter Travis Tritt. According to a media release announcing the news, the deal with Travis Tritt includes shares of Tritt’s entire body of work, up to his most recent album, Set In Stone.
Source: Reservoir acquires publishing and recorded music catalogs of country star Travis Tritt
The deal, which SME calls a “landmark agreement”, concluded in July 2021 and comprises the entirety of Bob Dylan’s recorded body of work since 1962, beginning with the artist’s self-titled debut album and continuing through 2020’s Rough and Rowdy Ways. Today’s news follows Sony Music Group‘s deal struck last month with another superstar artist, Bruce Springsteen.
Source: Sony Music acquires Bob Dylan’s recorded music catalog
Even though we are well past the transposition deadline (7 June 2021), and the European Commission initiated infringement proceedings against most European Union Member States, 17 countries have yet to initiate or finalise the transposition process. As of today, the countries who have national laws in place that transpose the CDSM Directive are Austria, Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands and Spain.
Source: Copyright directive series: progress in the directive transposition | Europeana Pro