Copyright & Media Update 4/12/2019

April 12, 2019

Streaming Platforms are Keeping More Money From Artists than Ever (and Paying Them More, Too)

ROLLING STONES: Spotify has worked hard to improve its reputation amongst artists. The company has forged close ties with everyone from Shawn Mendes to Camila Cabello and Justin Timberlake in recent years – not long after it was being publicly harangued by the likes of Thom Yorke for both its business model, and its meager per-stream payments to artists. READ MORE…

Apple Is the Real Winner in Spotify’s Battle Against Songwriters’ Rate Hike

VARIETY: Streaming giant Spotify, after years of attempting to woo the songwriting community, is now at the front of an effort to pay it less. It’s a move that has seen the company, the market leader with 87 million worldwide subscribers, hand second-place Apple, with an estimated 43.5 million subs, an opportunity to make up ground. READ MORE…

Composing Music After Blurred Lines

PLAGIARISM TODAY: Recently, the New York Times and Vulture wrote seemingly back-to-back articles about how composers, in particular pop song composers, are dealing with the changes from the Blurred Linesverdict. READ MORE…

Twitter removes Trump’s video featuring music from The Dark Knight for copyright infringement

THE VERGE: Twitter late Tuesday evening removed a video tweeted out by President Donald Trump’s official account because it contained music from Warner Bros. Pictures’ The Dark Knight Rises, the final film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. According to both The HillBuzzFeed News, the producers of the short clip did not acquire the license to use the song, resulting in Warner Bros. filing a copyright claim. Twitter then removed the video hours later for violating its policies around copyrighted material. READ MORE…

SoundExchange Sues Music Choice Over a ‘Persistent Effort to Avoid Paying Royalties’

DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS: SoundExchange’s lawsuit alleges that cable-based streaming music service Music Choice is cooking its books.  But is there more to this story? Another day, another contentious music royalty lawsuit. This time, the plaintiff is SoundExchange, a non-profit tasked with collecting US-based non-interactive digital radio royalties.  That includes Music Choice, which is best known for its cable-based radio streams. READ MORE…

Apple Music surpasses Spotify in US sales: report

NEW YORK POST: Apple Music has dethroned rival music streaming service Spotify in US sales. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple Music now has more paying US subscribers than Spotify — a coveted crown that suggests Apple, a hardware company, is gaining headway in its expansion to digital services. READ MORE…

Why Disney’s Remakes Don’t Extend Its Copyright

PLAGIARISM TODAY: Disney has been on something of a remake/sequel frenzy as of late. Not only did it just release a live-action remake of Dumbo, but, according to Time Magazine, it has another 11 other sequels or remakes in the works. 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. Follow us onTwitter, Facebook, Instagram, andYoutube. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for legal counsel.

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