Weekly Copyright Update

April 22, 2016

Compulsory Licenses Should Require Display of Songwriter Credits

BY CHRIS CASTLE: In Washington, DC yesterday, I was honored to participate in a symposium on the subject of “moral rights” sponsored by the U.S. Copyright Office and the George Mason University School of Law’s Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property. The symposium’s formal title was “Authors, Attribution and Integrity” and was at the request of Representative John J. Conyers, Jr., the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee. The topic of “attribution” or as it is more commonly thought of as “credit” is extraordinarily timely as it is on the minds of every music creator these days. Why? READ MORE…

Why Pandora’s $2 Billion Payout Leaves A Lot To Be Desired

BY TIM INGHAM: Pandora is feeling pretty pleased with itself. The US digital radio service says it has paid out $2bn to the music business to date, across both publishing/songwriters and labels/artists. Interestingly, Pandora says it has reached the milestone nine months after its lifetime payments to music industry rights-holders hit $1.5bn.In other words, Pandora has paid out at least $500m since July last year, or around $55.6m per month during this period. READ MORE…

Restaurant Sued for Alleged Music Public Performance Infringement

LouisianaRecord.com: NEW ORLEANS – Several entertainment companies have filed suit against a restaurant over claims there has been public performances of their works without authorization. Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), Rick’s Music Inc., Red Sea Songs, Sony/ATV Songs LLC, 2-Tuff-E-Nuff Productions Inc., EMI Blackwood Music Inc., Henstone Publishing and Musicworks filed a complaint on April 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Daiquiris & Creams of Covington LLC, Daiquiris & Creams, Faye L. Wagner and Chad L. Nunez citing alleged copyright infringement. READ MORE…

Justin Bieber Faces $10 Million Charge In Infringement Lawsuit

BY CHARLOTTE HASSEN: Justin Bieber’s 2010 hit song ‘Somebody To Love’ came under fire back in 2013 when he and his producer and mentor, Usher, were accused of copyright infringement. The track was taken from the heavy-selling My Word 2.0 album. The lawsuit was brought forward by singer De Rico and songwriter Mareio Overton, both of whom accused Bieber and Usher of copying their song. De Rico and Overton’s track was also titled ‘Somebody To Love,’ from their similarly-titled album, My Story II. READ MORE…