Weekly Copyright Update

March 4, 2016

TIDAL Hit with $5 Million Lawsuit for Allegedly Failing to Register and Pay

BY TIM INGHAM: TIDAL has been hit with a $5m class action lawsuit for allegedly failing to register – and pay – mechanical royalties to an artist in the US. The lawsuit has been filed in the New York Eastern District Court by John Emanuele, who plays in the band American Dollar, as well as Yesh Music Publishing. It claims that TIDAL failed to serve appropriate Notices Of Intent to obtain a licence to 148 musical recordings on its service from the plaintiffs – drawn from 118 copyrighted compositions. READ MORE…

RIAA Gets $22 Million Default Judgment Against Egregious Website

BY JOE MULLIN: Record labels have won a copyright lawsuit against MP3Skull, a website that linked to MP3 song files from around the Web. MP3Skull lost the case in a default judgment, because it never came to court to defend itself. The labels sued MP3Skull in April 2015, calling it a “very popular rogue website” devoted to “the massive, brazen, and egregious theft of millions of copyrighted sound recordings.” READ MORE…

Band Files Suit Against Clinton for Use of “Rebel Girl” Song

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE: A supporter of Hillary Clinton thought the song “Rebel Girl” was a fitting anthem for the Democratic candidate. The band who recorded the song did not. A YouTube video featuring Clinton and the song went viral. Soon after, Tobi Vail, drummer and co-founder of Bikini Kill, who recorded “Rebel Girl” in 1993, killed the ad by filing a copyright infringement notice. “Bikini Kill fans and friends would not allow it,” Vail said. “Since it’s basically an advertisement I just contacted YouTube and told them to contact Terror Bird Media who represent us for licensing. READ MORE…

Is Legal Battle Only Hurting “Star Trek” Fans and Studios?

BY BLANCHE JOHNSON: A lawyer for the fan-made “Star Trek” film “Axanar” claims CBS and Paramount are only hurting themselves and the fans by going after the crowdfunded fan film for copyright infringement. The legal battle launched by CBS and Paramount against “Axanar” raged on in court on Monday as producers for the film argued that the copyright infringement lawsuit filed in December 2015 should be dismissed. READ MORE…

Fair Use in Art, Politics and Babies Going Crazy

BY STAN ADAMS: The Center for Democracy & Technology spends a lot of time working on the role of copyright doctrines, like fair use, in enabling new innovations or innovative uses of existing works. The Supreme Court’s Sony v. Universal decision established the central role of fair use in the creation of new technologies that empower users to choose where, when, and how they engage with content. But this blog post is not about that. It’s about the role of fair use in the creation of the content itself, particularly content that reflects on, critiques, or mocks mercilessly the individuals, organizations, or trends that drive political and cultural discourse. READ MORE…

About Christian Copyright Solutions: CCS’s quest is to help churches and Christian ministries “do music right.” CCS is an expert on church music copyrights and our primary focus is providing licensing and clear educational resources to churches, as well as representation, administration and advocacy for copyright owners. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only, and is not legal advice or a substitute for legal counsel.