Rights

Meta could remove U.S. news if Congress helps outlets demand payment

Facebook parent company Meta threatened it might take all news content off its U.S. platforms — in what would be a major blow for journalism outlets grappling with a difficult media market — if Congress moves ahead with a proposal that gives publications greater leverage to negotiate compensation from tech platforms distributing their content.

Source: Meta could remove U.S. news if Congress helps outlets demand payment

Why graphic novels are lucrative IP for Web3: From MEFaverse to metaverse

Since the inception of the metaverse as a concept, some of the earliest explorations have included the creation — and adaptation of — graphic novels for this new virtual environment. From Method Man’s comic book MEFaverse, to the adaptation of Dan LuVisi’s iconic Last Man Standing: Killbook of a Bounty Hunter, to Killtopia catering to Japan’s ‘Otaku’ community of manga and animé fans.

Source: Why graphic novels are lucrative IP for Web3: From MEFaverse to metaverse

Triller says it’s exploring revenue share deals with major labels 

Video-sharing social networking service Triller, the US-based challenger to TikTok, says that it is exploring revenue share deals with major labels. According to a Triller spokesperson, the platform is currently “assessing” what it calls a “Spotify-like model”, which, they add, would include “a revenue share versus large cash payments as our agreements come up for renewal”.

Source: Now Triller says it’s exploring revenue share deals with major labels (while being sued by Sony)

CNN Accused of Using Unlicensed Music In Hundreds of Segments: ‘Breathtaking Scale’

Freeplay Music, a company that sells so-called production music for use in web videos, television segments and other content – and hasn’t been afraid to sue over it – claims the cable news giant used the company’s library of music as “their own personal cookie jar” for segments on CNN Philippines, CNN Indonesia, CNN Chile.

Source: CNN Accused of Using Unlicensed Music In Hundreds of Segments: ‘Breathtaking Scale’

Record labels welcome UK competition authority report on streaming

A spokesperson for the BPI, which represents independent and major record labels across the UK, welcomed what it called “the CMA’s objective, evidence-based report which confirms that the streaming market is competitive”. The BPI added that the org believes the industry is “delivering fans accessible and affordable music and artists greater choice in an environment in which many more are succeeding and where artist and songwriter royalty rates have increased”.

Source: Record labels welcome UK competition authority report on streaming, as Merck Mercuriadis slams CMA for not using ‘powers they have to fix the problems they identify’

Warner Records’ Web3 Label Sold 5,555 NFTs in 7 Minutes. Now It Wants to Share IP Rights With Fans

After selling out a collection of NFT access-passes, the holders will now gather in a Discord server to help develop artists together, share the credits of any future awards such as a Grammy, and ultimately offer intellectual property rights in some of the projects to NFT holders. The experiment is a collaboration between Warner Records UK and Web3 brand Probably Nothing, whose debut NFT collection fetched $500k in seven minutes in October.

Source: Warner Records’ Web3 Label Sold 5,555 NFTs in 7 Minutes. Now It Wants to Share IP Rights With Fans

Court Rejects Meta’s Motion to Dismiss Epidemic Sound Lawsuit

A judge has rejected Meta’s motion to dismiss the copyright infringement lawsuit that it’s facing from Epidemic Sound. This latest development in the high-stakes legal showdown, which initiated in July of this year, just recently came to light in a court order. In the original complaint, Epidemic Sound claimed that Meta had infringed upon over 1,800 recordings and compositions during the preceding five years.

Source: Court Rejects Meta’s Motion to Dismiss Epidemic Sound Lawsuit

Why OpenSea Is Sticking With NFT Creator Royalties 

While creators and many collectors applauded OpenSea’s move, it wasn’t a clear-cut business decision for the company. Although the firm believes that royalties—typically a 5% to 10% fee paid by the seller and taken from the secondary sale price—are important to the industry, some traders are voting with their crypto at royalties-shunning platforms, cutting into OpenSea’s market share.

Source: Why OpenSea Is Sticking With NFT Creator Royalties – Decrypt

Unauthorized Hamilton Production Underscores Issues with Unlicensed, Infringing Staged Theatrical Productions

While the unlicensed and infringing use by the Door Christian Fellowship McAllen Church was quickly dealt with by Hamilton’s legal team, there have been other instances of recalcitrant producers who have only been held accountable for staging unlicensed theatrical works after years of infringement.

Source: Unauthorized Hamilton Production Underscores Issues with Unlicensed, Infringing Staged Theatrical Productions

The record labels’ TikTok opportunity cost

Details about the negotiations remain speculative, but an ad revenue share model aligns all parties’ incentives: when the platform earns revenue, the music industry earns revenue. Yet this upside was not always so obvious to the labels, whose initial “value gap” argument was based around YouTube’s ad revenue share model. Now — if the reports are true — the labels’ new value gap argument focuses on getting TikTok to adopt exactly what was the basis of the first value gap.

Source: The record labels’ TikTok opportunity cost

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