INDIE Weekly

March 14, 2016

The INDIE Weekly is your source for news and creative ideas for independent artists and songwriters. This week we are providing news from the United States Copyright Office:

U.S. Copyright Office to review safe harbor provisions

BY ANNA WASHENKO: The U.S. Copyright Office announced that it is undertaking a public study of the country’s safe harbor provisions. Section 512 was introduced in 1998 as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and its safe harbor laws provide some liability limitations on usage for Internet-based services. The rules focus on protecting services from liability due to copyright infringements occurring in user-generated content, such as video or audio creations. To qualify for safe harbor protections, the online platform usually needs to offer a process for quickly addressing any infringements in uploaded material. READ MORE

BY BILL ROSENBLATT: You know the old philosophical conundrum: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Here’s an analogy in the world of digital copyright: if a file is made available online and no one is around to download it, is that evidence of possible copyright infringement? In 2013, Congress asked the U.S. Copyright Office to answer that question regarding U.S. law. The answer could have implications for the technologies used to collect evidence of online piracy. And the Office’s answer, which came in the form of a lengthy report published last month, was yes. READ MORE

U.S. Copyright Office Argues New Proposal Threatens Song Owners’ Rights

BY ED CHRISTMAN: The Dept. of Justice is reportedly on the verge of imposing a drastic change to how performance rights organizations (PROs) are required to treat the licensing of songs with multiple co-writers. The change would require the PROs, namely ASCAP and BMI, to allow “100 percent licensing,” which would give the partial owner of a song — regardless of whether their share of the work is five percent or fifty — the ability to license the entire work to a user such as Pandora. The move would be a major shift in how U.S. publishing currently operates. Now, in the 23rd hour of this rule, the U.S. Copyright Office has weighed with a strong opposition to the DoJ’s stance. READ MORE

We hope you find these articles helpful and informative! Please submit suggestions or contributions for this column to [email protected].

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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.

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