Merlin, the global digital rights agency for the world’s independent label sector, has struck a deal with TREBEL, a free, licensed, music streaming app. The service, which offers on-demand and offline play at no cost to its users, sponsored by brand advertisers, recently filed for an IPO in the United States.
Source: Merlin strikes strategic partnership with free music streaming app TREBEL
The US Copyright Office has published a list of new exemptions to the DMCA’s anti-circumvention rules. Several new freedoms were granted this round, including broader right to repair permissions. The right to jailbreak also expanded to include streaming TV devices such as Roku and Apple TV boxes, despite Hollywood fears that this will boost piracy.
Source: US Copyright Office Expands Jailbreaking Exemption to Roku and Apple TV * TorrentFreak
Global royalties collections for music creators dropped 10.7% during 2020 due to the pandemic, declining by nearly €1 billion (approximately $1.16 billion) to a pre-2017 level of €8.12 billion (approximately $9.3 billion), according to the 2020 Global Collections Report published Wednesday by CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers.
Source: CISAC Reports 10.7% Drop in 2020 Global Music Royalty Collections Due to Pandemic
Spotify proposes in its filing that the songwriter pay rate for 2023-2027 should be set at 10.5% of a streaming service’s revenues. That’s nearly half the size of what the NMPA is proposing. That 10.5% is also the same proportion of revenues as the CRB-approved royalty rate that existed in 2017.
A U.S. lawmaker has introduced the Protect Working Musicians Act, an A2IM- and ARA-backed bill that purportedly aims to “allow artists and music creators to negotiate fairer rates and terms for the use of their music online.” The bill aims to help indie artists ‘band together to negotiate with dominant streaming platforms,’ per its author.
Source: New Protect Working Musicians Act Aims to Boost Indie Streaming Pay
With the Covid-19 pandemic still impacting libraries and schools across the nation, Penguin Random House announced this week that it has once again extended its Temporary Library Terms of Sale for digital content as well as its temporary story time permissions, both of which will now run through March, 31, 2022.
Source: PRH Once Again Extends Temporary E-book, Digital Audio Terms for Libraries
On Thursday (Oct 21), the CRB posted the digital music services’ rate proposals for the term, also known as Phonorecords IV, and those streamers are recommending lower rates, mathematically speaking, than any of the yearly figures set by the CRB Phonorecords III determination that covers 2018–2022.
Source: Streaming Services Propose New Royalty Rates for Songwriters and Publishers
The National Music Publishers Association and five major streamers are duking it out this week in front of the Copyright Royalty Board, which determines royalty rates for songwriters and publishers. For years, publishers and songwriters have bristled over payments from streaming and say they are paltry—about one fifth what labels and recording artists collect. The NMPA proposed raising the rate to 40% of what labels are paid.
France has hailed a victory in its long-running quest for fairer action from tech companies after Facebook reached an agreement with a group of national and regional newspapers to pay for content shared by its users. France had been battling for two years to protect the publishing rights and revenue of its press and news agencies against what it termed the domination of powerful tech companies that share news content or show news stories in web searches.
Source: France hails victory as Facebook agrees to pay newspapers for content
Range Media Partners, which manages stars including Emilia Clarke, Bradley Cooper, Gabrielle Union and Michael Fassbender, has signed a partnership with fast-growing podcast company Audio Up that will include Range helping Audio Up adapt its slate of podcasts, which include Anthony Anderson-fronted Sonic Leap and James Ellroy’s Hollywood Death Trip, for film and television.
Source: Range Media Teams With Audio Up To Adapt Podcasts For TV & Film