The British Library
has released a huge archive of nearly 18,000 maps and views that have been digitised and are available for free – with no copyright restrictions. In total, the collection contains 40,000 maps and views, and the British Library plans to make the whole collection available once the rest of it has been digitised.
Source: British Library releases 18,000 maps and views for free
Business-to business (B2B) music streaming service Soundtrack Your Brand has renewed its global licensing agreement with Warner Music. The company is also introducing a new on-demand service called Soundtrack Unlimited, which gives business users more control over the music they play to their customers.
On the copyright front, the Report notes that existing “statutory and case law should adequately address the legality of machine ‘ingestion’ in AI scenarios.” Critically, however, “mass digitization for purposes of machine learning (ML) ‘ingestion’ processes-and large-scale ingestion of already-digitized works-has not yet been tested by the courts.”
As technological innovation often outpaces the ability of legislatures and governments to create new rules and regulations, courts across the world are increasingly facing common issues of a highly sophisticated nature. WIPO-Lex Judgments contributes to a greater overall understanding of how courts are handling these issues, by making available judgments that establish precedent or offer a persuasive interpretation of IP law in their jurisdiction.
Source: WIPO Launches New Free Database of Judicial Decisions on Intellectual Property from Around the World
A French appeals court upheld an order for Google to open negotiations with French publishers over payments to use their news content. The Paris Court of Appeal sided with France’s competition authority, which had ordered the U.S. tech company to discuss compensation with publishers and news agencies for reusing their material online.
Source: French court: Google must open payment talks with publishers
Lennon’s estate is the latest to partner with TikTok. TikTok partnered with the Prince estate in June to bring the singer’s catalog of songs to the app. It marked the first time that the Prince estate partnered with a shortform video app. Although Prince’s songs haven’t particularly taken off on the app it seems like an attempt by the estate and labels to try to make a play for a younger generation of music listeners.
Source: TikTok partners with John Lennon estate to bring classic songs to creators
The control composition clause is often employed by record labels to insure that when they sign artists that write their own songs, that the labels also can license the publishing for records it plans to issue. But its also has been used to reduce songwriting royalty payments, allowing labels to pay such artists/songwriters only 75% of the statutory mechanical rate, currently 9.1 cents per song; and to limit royalty payments to 10 songs, even if an album has 14 songs.
Source: BMG Eliminates ‘Unacceptable’ Royalty Deduction, Other Labels Urged to Follow
The neighbouring rights market is growing. According to the IFPI, the sector grew in value from $1.4 billion in 2010 to $2.6bn in 2019 – and today brings news of a series new player entering this sector. peermusic has acquired Canada-based Premier Muzik, France-based All Right Music and Netherlands-based Global Master Rights to form a new neighbouring rights company.
Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music and a division of Warner have filed applications for a preliminary injunction against Apple at the Moscow City Court. The complaints target three apps, all currently available on the App Store, that reportedly enable users to access music without paying for it. Initial tests reveal that is indeed the case.
Source: Apple Targeted By Records Labels For Distributing Music Piracy Apps * TorrentFreak
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up the long-running copyright battle over Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” leaving in place a ruling that rejected infringement allegations over the 1971 song.
Source: Led Zeppelin Wins ‘Stairway to Heaven’ Copyright Battle as Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Case