Weekly Copyright Update
May 26, 2016
Statutory Damages Vital Part of Copyright System
BY GEORGE S. FORD: Earlier this year, the Internet Policy Task Force (IPTF) of the Department of Commerce issued its “White Paper on Remixes, First Sale, and Statutory Damages.” In this white paper, the IPTF made various recommendations on the reform of particular aspects of copyright law, including the use of statutory damages in certain contexts. The white paper is but one piece of a larger process to review copyright law in the digital age, including over 20 hearings and listening sessions held by the House Judiciary Committee in the past two years. READ MORE…
Justin Bieber Sued for Allegedly Ripping Off Single
THE MUSIC.COM.AU: Pop megastar Justin Bieber is being sued by indie singer Casey Dienel (White Hinterland) who alleges that the Canadian artist ripped off the melody from her song for his global hit, Sorry. As TMZ reports, Dienel alleges that the “unique characteristics of the female vocal riff” from her 2014 track Ring The Bell are identical to Bieber’s song. Dienel also claims that “both songs feature keyboard synthesizers, samples, synth bass, drums, and percussion”. READ MORE…
Music’s Evolving Role in Advertising
BY JOSH ENGROFF: “You are the music, while the music lasts.” — T.S. Eliot Of all the art forms, few have the power to stir strong emotions as music. And few have had such an easy and fruitful relationship with advertising. It all began with the jingle, of course, whose birth in the 1940s was due to several factors: the rise of small local radio stations after the war, the lower expense of using disc jockeys versus live bands, and a man named Martin Block. READ MORE…
Licensing Restrictions and Usage Rights at Heart of Houghton-Mifflin Copyright
BY JAMIE KELLY: PHILADELPHIA — It can be difficult for companies with large numbers of images to keep track of the licenses they have for each, but they have a legal responsibility to do so, according to an advocate for simplifying image rights management. Michael Keller, a photographer, recently filed a copyright infringement suit against Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company in March, claiming the company improperly used photos that it had licensed from him through photo licensing agency The Stock Market. READ MORE….
BY CHRIS CASTLE: Like any large organization, Google has competing bureaucracies and therefore its wholly-owned subsidiary YouTube does as well. (Google is now the largest media company in the world.) YouTube’s organizational independence is additionally blurred because it is the #2 producer of revenue inside Google relative to search and advertising sales. There seems to be a three-legged stool of competing interests in dealing with YouTube which we can describe with generalized labels–the “engineers”, the “policy people” (essentially Fred Von Lohmann) who are mostly lobbyists and lawyers, and the “business people” starting with Robert Kyncl at least at the moment. 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.
Categorized in: Weekly Copyright Update
