USA articles related to:
If you register your copyright claim in your musical recording, are the lyrics protected too?
Lewis and Roca LLP - USA -
April 30 2010
Sound recordings and musical works are separately copyrightable works that can be owned by the same or different authors.
The basics of music licensing in digital media
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- 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.
The basics of music licensing in digital media: 2011 update
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- June 10 2011
Businesses that are involved in digital media use music in many waysand most require some sort of license to make the use legal.
The basics of music licensing in digital media: 2011 update
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- February 22 2011
Businesses that are involved in digital media use music in many waysand most require some sort of license to make the use legal.
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.
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.
Beware - music use in podcasts, downloads and on-demand streams is not covered by your SoundExchange royalties
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- July 21 2011
Broadcasters beware - podcasts with music may be dangerous to your economic health.
Mason v. Jamie Music Publishing Co., et al.
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- September 23 2009
Despite the fact that defendants filed a copyright registration for the composition listing themselves as the copyright claimants and provided royalty checks and statements to plaintiff for the composition, court holds that songwriter agreement between plaintiff Barbara Mason when she was a minor and defendants did not constitute a transfer of plaintiff’s copyright interest in a song that she wrote because the court-approved agreement did not contain the schedule listing the composition or any mention thereof.
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.
Janky v. Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- August 12 2009
The Seventh Circuit finds that a song was a joint work, as a matter of law, where a songwriter’s fellow band member recommended changes which accounted for ten percent of the copyrighted song’s lyrical content and was listed as a co-author on the copyright registration
Def Leppard fire silver bullet in copyright stand-off
- King & Wood Mallesons
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- Australia, USA
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- August 15 2012
Def Leppard and their record company, Universal, have once again proved that musicians and music labels go together like oil and water.
Real housewives of the northern district: reality TV stars now legal adversaries in copyright battle
- Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice LLP
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- USA
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- March 14 2013
Those who watch "Housewives"-themed television shows are doubtless familiar with the oft-repeated scenes of reality-TV stars engaging in verbal
Roger Miller Music, Inc. v. SonyATV Publishing, LLC
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- March 1 2012
Sixth Circuit reverses district court’s judgment and holds that defendant, music publisher who was assignee of renewal rights in numerous songs, and not songwriter’s widow, owns renewal copyrights to songs where songwriter died after defendant filed renewal applications but before renewal term began.
Second Circuit rules that per-song statutory damages are unavailable for infringement of music album compilations
- Proskauer Rose LLP
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- USA
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- May 21 2010
A recent Second Circuit decision may serve to limit statutory damage awards for copyright infringement in the context of music albums.
“Caught Up” not substantially similar to “caught Up”
- McDermott Will & Emery
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- USA
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- February 29 2012
Assessing whether two songs titled “Caught Up” possessed enough similarities to survive a motion to dismiss, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that they were not in that the songs were lyrically and musically distinct.
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.
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.
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.
I say Natasha, you say Nikita
- ENS - Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs
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- USA
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- November 21 2012
And if there comes a time.
Composer accuses famed Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy of copyright infringement in misappropriating lyrics to song provided to rapper in 2009
- Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice LLP
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- USA
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- May 13 2013
Brian Smith (Smith), who describes himself as a music producer and songwriter specializing in urban music, filed his complaint seeking an injunction
Brand v. RMM
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- April 27 2011
Court grants defendant’s motion for summary judgment, finding that plaintiff’s copyright infringement claim seeking a share of profits for his contributions to a rap song was an ownership claim, which was time-barred because plaintiff failed to bring it within three years of the song’s release.
Developers of musical ringtones may benefit from using the statutory license created by Section 115 of the Copyright Act
- Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
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- USA
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- May 19 2008
The Register of Copyrights has issued a formal opinion finding that, in most instances, musical ringtones for cell phones and related mobile devices fall within the scope of the statutory license under Section 115 of the Copyright Act.
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.
The Aereo and ReDigi decisions: courts continue to wrestle with the application of copyright law to the redistribution of digital content
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- April 9 2013
A series of recent decisions in the Second and Ninth Circuitsincluding Viacom v. YouTube and UMG v. Veoh (both dealing with the distribution
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.
US copyrights: the termination right
- Swan Turton LLP
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- United Kingdom, USA
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- February 14 2013
Authors of copyright works created after 1 January 1978 have the right to regain the ownership of these in the US after 35 years. Transfers of
Think you are a co-owner of a copyright? think again
- Fenwick & West LLP
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- USA
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- June 18 2008
Many copyright owners co-own their copyrights with others, or at least they thought so until the decision came down in Sybersound Records, Inc. v. UAV Corp., 517 F.3d 1137 (9th Cir. 2008).
Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi, Inc.
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- April 19 2013
District court grants summary judgment in favor of plaintiff Capitol Records on its copyright claims against ReDigi, online “reseller” of pre-owned
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.
Nietzsche has Kanye West's back in rap battle -- US copyright case tests originality of song lyrics
- Hunt & Hunt
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- Australia, USA
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- November 23 2012
A case of déjà vu for American musician, film director and fashion designer Kanye West who has found himself the subject of another copyright infringement claim, this time by unsigned rapper Vincent Peters, professionally known as Vince P.
Creating a circuit split, the Second Circuit rejects "independent economic value" test
- McDermott Will & Emery
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- USA
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- June 30 2010
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected the “independent economic value” test adopted by four other circuits and upheld an award of statutory damages for copyright infringement of music on a per-album basis, not a per-song basis.
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.