USA articles related to:
The basics of music licensing in digital media
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP - USA -
March 10 2010
Businesses that are involved in digital media use music in many ways — and most require some sort of license to make the use legal.
Another royalty payment for webcasters? EMI withdraws from ASCAP for new media licensing
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- May 8 2011
Just as webcasters thought that they had their royalty obligations figured out, there comes news that the already complicated world of digital media royalties may well become more complicated.
Using music in advertising or in a video production? Secure the necessary rights - ASCAP, BMI and SESAC licenses are not enough
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- March 5 2010
Using music in commercials is not as simple as just paying your ASCAP, BMI and SESAC royalties.
Music royalty settlement announced on mechanical royalties - not a decision on webcasting rates
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- April 11 2012
The broadcast and music trade press brought news of a settlement between music companies and digital media services regrading digital music royalties.
Second Circuit rules digital music downloads are not public performances under the Copyright Act
- Proskauer Rose LLP
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- USA
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- October 11 2010
The Second Circuit recently held that the download of a digital file containing a musical work is not a "public performance" of the underlying work, and therefore that online music vendors need not obtain or pay for public performance licenses for their distribution of - and their customers' use of - digital music files.
ASCAP and BMI - another royalty battle for broadcasters?
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- October 3 2009
While we have written much about the battle over the broadcast performance royalty (or the "performance tax" as broadcasters call it) - whether broadcasters will have to pay artists and record labels for the right to play their music on the air - we have not written much about another looming issue with the royalties that broadcasters must pay to play music on their stations.
Pandora enters settlement to pay for public performance of SonyATV musical works - what's its impact on licensing for music services and rights holders?
- Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
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- USA
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- January 20 2013
Deciding how to pay music royalties has always been difficult - trying to figure out what permissions are necessary, who has the rights to grant such
If you register your copyright claim in your musical recording, are the lyrics protected too?
- Lewis and Roca LLP
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- USA
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- April 30 2010
Sound recordings and musical works are separately copyrightable works that can be owned by the same or different authors.
Judge orders ASCAP fees for radio to drop - on an interim basis
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- May 19 2010
Last week, a US District Court Judge adopted a new interim rate to be paid by commercial radio broadcasters to ASCAP for the use of ASCAP-licensed music by over-the-air radio stations, reducing the fees paid by the industry by about $40 million dollars, or about 20 of the total that had been paid by the industry under the rate deal that expired at the end of 2009.
Digital music downloads are not public performances
- McDermott Will & Emery
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- USA
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- October 28 2010
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, affirming a district court, found that a download of a musical work does not constitute a public performance of that work. In that same case, the court vacated the district court’s assessment of license fees.
SoundExchange sending reminders to broadcasters who are not paying royalties for streaming music sound recordings
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- March 23 2010
In recent weeks, SoundExchange has begun to send letters to broadcasters who are streaming their signals on the Internet without paying their SoundExchange royalties.
Restaurants and bars beware: failure to obtain a license to play a copyrighted music may expose you to substantial damages
- Weintraub Genshlea Chediak Law Corporation
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- USA
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- March 16 2012
Restaurants, bars, night clubs and similar establishments who play copyrighted music or have live performers play the compositions from copyrighted music should pay particular attention to a recent Ninth Circuit case, where the court awarded plaintiffs statutory damages as well as substantial attorney’s fees.
Court of Appeals determines that Launchcast is not an interactive service - thus not needing direct licenses from the record labels
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- August 22 2009
The question of when a digital music service is "interactive" and therefore requires direct negotiations with a copyright holder in order to secure permission to use a sound recording is a difficult one that has been debated since the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was adopted in 1998.
Why the differing perceptions of the value of music by digital music services and copyright holders make royalty decisions so hard
- Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
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- USA
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- March 31 2013
With the National Association of Broadcasters big convention coming up next week in Las Vegas, this week we'll look at a couple of the issues that
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on radio performance royalty and platform parity for webcaster royalties
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- August 6 2009
On Tuesday, just before the Senate recesses for its summer vacation, an abridged version of the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the proposed sound recording performance royalty for over-the-air radio.
Warner Music says no more music for streaming - what does it mean for US webcasters?
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- February 14 2010
According to British press reports, Warner Music's CEO Edger Bronfman Jr. stated that it will cease making its music available to advertising supported streaming music sites.
Full text of Copyright Royalty Board decision on Sirius XM and Music Choice royalties released - the basics of the decision
- Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
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- USA
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- January 4 2013
The full decision of the Copyright Royalty Board setting the royalty rates to be paid to SoundExchange by Sirius XM and Music Choice from 2013 through
Apple iTunes gets the Beatles - why internet radio had them all along
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- November 16 2010
The big news in the music world this week is that Apple finally is able to sell digital downloads of the Beatles catalog in its iTunes music store.
SoundExchange seeks permission to distribute royalties based on proxy information
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- April 25 2011
What should SoundExchange do with money that it collects for the performance of sound recordings, when it does not know what sound recordings were played by a particular service?
ASCAP and BMI enter into agreement with RMLC for interim reductions in radio royalties until final fees are set
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- December 28 2009
The Radio Music Licensing Committee ("RMLC") has announced that it has entered into agreements with both ASCAP and BMI for interim royalties to be paid by commercial radio stations until final royalties are set.
Radio Music Licensing Committee announces settlement with BMI following settlement with ASCAP - why SESAC is not included
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- May 15 2012
The Radio Music Licensing Committee has announced a settlement with BMI over music royalties for the public performance of musical compositions for the period from 2010-2016.
Second Circuit finds downloading music does not violate "performance" copyright
- Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
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- USA
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- October 7 2010
In U.S. v. American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (re Real Networks Inc. and Yahoo! Inc.), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit addressed the narrow issue of whether downloading of digital musical files would infringe the public performance right of those works because the parties had acknowledged that downloading of music files would infringe the reproduction right of copyright holders.
Second Circuit issues decision in music download case
- Wiley Rein LLP
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- USA
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- October 12 2010
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has issued a long-awaited decision confirming that websites that offer music downloads do not need licenses for the copyright public performance right.
Audio Home Recording Act does not protect device distributor against copyright claims arising from broadcaster role
- Fenwick & West LLP
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- USA
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- March 7 2007
In a case of first impression, and one of the few cases interpreting the statute at issue, a New York district court held that the Audio Home Recording Act, 17 U.S.C. 1001 et seq. (“AHRA”), does not immunize a distributor of digital audio recording devices from copyright liability when the infringement claims are based on the distributor’s allegedly infringing activity in its simultaneous role as a satellite radio broadcaster.
Singing the same tune: Ninth Circuit joins Second Circuit in requiring synchronization and reprint licenses for karaoke lyrics
- McDermott Will & Emery
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- USA
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- February 29 2008
Addressing for the first time whether obtaining a compulsory license to reproduce musical compositions on karaoke machines also allows for song lyrics to be displayed in coordination with the music, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a compulsory license does not include the right to print or display song lyrics with the recordings.
NAB Radio Board adopts proposal for settlement of performance tax issue - where do we go from here?
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- October 25 2010
The NAB Radio Board today voted to adopt a Terms Sheet to offer to the musicFirst Coalition which, if agreed to by musicFirst and adopted by Congress, will settle the contentious issue of whether to impose a sound recording performance royalty (the "performance tax") on over-the-air broadcasters.
Copyright Royalty Board requires census reporting for all webcasters except for small broadcasters
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- October 13 2009
The Copyright Royalty Board has ordered that most digital music services provide "census reporting" of all songs played by their service, along with other information including the number of listeners who heard each song each time it was played.
Copyright Office issues letter in support of broadcast performance royalty - suggests that economic comeback for radio makes royalty more affordable
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- June 8 2010
According to a letter from the Copyright Office that has recently been made public, the economic troubles of broadcasters, which have been used to argue against the imposition of a performance royalty for the use of sound recordings by radio stations, are cyclical and are largely over.
SiriusXM brings law suit against SoundExchange alleging collusion to stop direct licensing of music - impact on royalties?
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- March 28 2012
SiriusXM announced that is has filed a legal action, including antitrust claims, against SoundExchange and A2IM (the American Association of Independent Music - the association of independent record labels), charging, according to a press release, these two organizations "with unlawfully interfering in SiriusXM's efforts to secure, through a competitive market, copyrights critical to its business.
Audio Home Recording Act does not protect device distributor against copyright claims arising from broadcaster role
- Fenwick & West LLP
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- USA
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- April 2 2007
In a case of first impression, a New York district court held that the Audio Home Recording Act, 17 U.S.C. 1001 et seq. (AHRA), does not immunize a distributor of digital audio recording devices from copyright liability when the infringement claims are based on the distributor’s allegedly infringing activity in its simultaneous role as a satellite radio broadcaster.
Recapturing copyrights: how the Village People’s policeman laid down the law
- Sedgwick LLP
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- USA
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- June 6 2012
Thousands of musicians dream about the moment they will ink their first record deal.