The RIAA and NMPA are putting Twitter under pressure to do something about the platform’s piracy problem. Slamming the company for allowing pre-release music to be distributed to the public, the industry groups say that Twitter is failing to meet its legal obligations when responding to takedown notices. Licensing is the answer, they suggest, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Source: RIAA: Twitter Must License Music & Fight Piracy Without Charge * TorrentFreak
Grammy award-winning musician Maria Schneider wants a court to order YouTube to hand over huge amounts of data relating to copyright infringement on the platform. In summary, Schneider wants to identify all users who had a takedown notice filed against their account since 2015 to determine whether YouTube’s repeat infringer policies come up to scratch.
Source: YouTube Class Action Lawsuit Wants to Identify Every ‘Pirate’ Uploader Since 2015 * TorrentFreak
While a copyright dispute about computer code might not seem like a subject of particular consequence for them, an opinion from Justice Stephen Breyer concluding that Google made fair use of copyrighted material will very likely be discussed for quite some time and be invoked in other contexts. As such, a few lines in particular from today’s opinion regarding public benefits and public harms could have many in Hollywood quite tense about a future staked on intellectual property.
Source: Supreme Court Hands Google a Landmark Win — and Hollywood a Huge Concern
Healthcare, mental health services and artists owning master recordings are not terms you’ll find included in most recording contracts. But producer Alex Salibian and artist-activist Tamar Kaprelian aim to change that with Nvak Collective, their new, socially-driven record label focused on female and non-binary artists from underserved communities.
Source: Nvak Collective Label Gives Artists Healthcare, Master Ownership: ‘There’s No Excuse’
Sony Music Publishing announced it has acquired the song catalog of Paul Simon, one of the most successful and influential songwriters of the past 75 years. The milestone deal includes Paul Simon’s classic songs spanning more than six decades, from his time as a member of Simon & Garfunkel, through his extraordinary career as a solo artist.
Source: Paul Simon Sells Song Catalog to Sony Music Publishing
The Ivors Academy has officially warned composers of the perceived disadvantages associated with forgoing royalties for upfront payments. The 77-year-old Ivors Academy and the 128-year-old Musicians’ Union relayed the warning in a newly launched campaign entitled “Composers Against Buyouts.”
Source: Ivors Academy Warns Composers of Offering Complete Music Buyouts
Digital Millennium Copyright Act wasn’t intended to provide blanket immunity for YouTube, Facebook or Twitch. As is, the DMCA has outlived its effectiveness as well as its original purpose. Additionally, many of the reasons DMCA immunity was created no longer exist. However, improving the DMCA so it is administered in a fair, practical, and cost-effective manner requires a multidimensional approach.
Source: How Twitch’s lackluster compliance harms copyright owners and esports fans | Opinion
As the market for NFTs has exploded, and as buyers have shown an appetite for bragging rights regarding ownership of the NFT associated with popular or even iconic works, some artists have complained that their work has been tokenized into an NFT without their permission.
Source: NFTs: Legal Risks from “Minting” Art and Collectibles on Blockchain
The defense of a lawsuit has Bob Dylan’s attorneys discussing for the very first time some details about the legendary songwriter’s recent $300 million sale of his entire catalog to Universal Music. This week, Dylan moved to dismiss a lawsuit brought in New York by the estate of Jacques Levy, who collaborated with Dylan on his 1976 album Desire.
Source: Bob Dylan Argues Co-Writer Gets No ‘Double-Dip’ From $300M Songs Sale
The RIAA, the Recording Academy, Songwriters of North America, and additional entities yet took aim at the social-media platform in an open letter, delivered to lawmakers ahead of Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey’s appearance before the House’s Energy and Commerce Committee. (Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet/Google CEO Sundar Pichai also participated in the virtual hearing, which centered on disinformation and extremism.)
Source: RIAA, NMPA, Others Call Out Twitter for Alleged Copyright Infringement