There’s been a blizzard of articles regarding the jury decision finding that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’ 2013 megahit, “Blurred Lines,” infringed upon Marvin Gaye’s song, “Got to Give It Up.” I’ll leave it to you, gentle reader, to judge how similar the recordings of two songs are to each other. While most of my […]
Update: I originally published the post below on May 14, 2014, shortly after the Songwriter Equity Act was introduced last year. The bill has was re-introduced in both houses of Congress on March 3, 2015 by the same sponsors as before, led by Sen. Hatch (R-UT) and Rep. Collins (R-GA), who posted the bill on […]
On Friday, February 6, the Copyright Office issued a 202 page comprehensive report (plus appendices) on the music licensing business, “Copyright and the Music Marketplace.” The Report is the culmination of a nearly year-long process of soliciting and evaluating input from interested parties on how to fix what everybody agrees is a broken system. Anyone […]
Making preparations for your eventual demise isn’t fun. But there are far more important things you can do for your musical legacy than writing a requiem, according to estate planning lawyer located in Highland, IN. Proper planning for your death or incapacity is important even if you don’t have a spouse or kids and involves […]
In December, I was invited by Jennifer Higdon to speak about various aspects of the music business to the Curtis Institute’s Composers’ Forum. I was peppered with some very pointed questions about the music publishing prospects for emerging composers. The students were justifiably skeptical because a publishing deal isn’t for everyone. But there are also […]
Yesterday, my astrologer friend, Elisabeth Grace, asked me to make a prediction of my own. She forwarded this article in The Guardian and inquired as to whether I thought the band Skinny Puppy has a case. As the article points out, the band’s music apparently was used as part of the “enhanced interrogation techniques” on […]
On Wednesday, I attended a luncheon sponsored by the Association of Independent Music Publishers. Like last month’s AIMP lunch, the room was packed with my PRO, music publishing and copyright lawyer colleagues. This time it was for a panel discussion on copyright reform and the music business. The panel, moderated by attorney Michael Sukin, consisted […]
Last month, the Seventh Circuit in Kienitz v. Sconnie Nation signaled what may be a seismic shift in how “fair use” cases are judged. In order to see why, let’s briefly review the statutory and judicial framework. First, fair use is not a “right” as some “copy-left “ advocates would argue, but is a defense […]
A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine called to pick my brain about music licensing. She lives in an old town in the Hudson Valley that has a burgeoning music and arts scene. She’s a jazz singer and, possessing an entrepreneurial bent, she produced a series of live jazz concerts at a local […]
Yesterday, the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) sponsored a luncheon where veteran entertainment lawyer Bob Donnelly interviewed the CEOs of the three performing rights organizations (PROs): ASCAP’s John LoFrumento, BMI’s Mike O’Neill and SESAC’s Pat Collins. The meeting took place before a packed house in the performance space at the barbecue joint, Hill Country, […]