Big congratulations to Flo & Eddie (aka The Turtles) and class counsel Henry Gradstein for a great settlement in their indie label class action against SiriusXM for pre-72 sound recordings. The settlement is a guaranteed $25 million payment against a 5.5% license for 10 years which is worth between $45.47 million to $59.2 million assuming Sirius continues to play the remaining class member’s recordings at the same play rate as the past.

via Flo & Eddie Class Settlement with Sirius on Pre-72 Sound Recordings — Artist Rights Watch

David Lowery and Chris Castle discuss firing of the head of US Copyright Office, DOJ appeal of 100% Licensing Ruling and Artist Advocacy

via MTP Podcast: Pallante Firing, DOJ Appeal of BMI 100% Licensing Ruling, and Artist Advocacy — MUSIC • TECHNOLOGY • POLICY

[Editor Charlie sez: big 45.2% increase in the number of people getting royalty payments from SoundExchange!] SoundExchange just paid out more than quarter of a billion dollars to recorded music rights holders – its biggest three-month distribution in two years. According to the US company’s latest data, it delivered $263.5m to labels and artists in […]

via @musicbizworld: @SOUNDEXCHANGE PAID OUT $264M IN Q3 – ITS BIGGEST QUARTER IN TWO YEARS — Artist Rights Watch

With ASCAP and BMI still under unaltered consent decrees and SESAC agreeing to rate-setting arbitration in a 2015 settlement, the Radio Music Licensing Committee (RMLC) is going for the grand slam with an antitrust lawsuit against boutique performance rights organization Global Music Rights.

via @edchristman: Commercial Radio Group Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Irving Azoff’s Global Music Rights — Artist Rights Watch

Facebook is buying back up to $6 billion of its stock from shareholders, the company announced in a SEC filing on Friday–and still no music licenses.

via @alexeheath: Facebook is doing a $6 billion stock buyback [But Nothing for Songwriters] — Artist Rights Watch

With views in the millions, it’s time for Facebook to answer songwriters’ friend request and properly license their platform. Otherwise, it may find itself de-friended by the music industry.

via @DavidIsraelite: It’s Time for Facebook to Accept Songwriters’ Friend Request — Artist Rights Watch

A provocative question–of course knowing the answer precisely would mean that Amazon actually knew which CDs were counterfeit to begin with. That means we need to guess, but sometimes guesses are more accurate that we may give them credit for. And we guess it’s in the 2 million unit range–and absurdly high number for the smartest guys in the room.

via How many Counterfeit CDs Does Amazon Sell? — Artist Rights Watch

The Obama Department of Justice filed notice on November 11 that it intended to use the peoples money to appeal BMI Rate Court Judge Louis Stanton’s devastating ruling against the DOJ’s bizarre position on “100% licensing”. Professor Steve Winogradsky and I summarized the results of the ruling in this post. Aside from the terrible legal […]

via How President Trump Can Give Songwriters and Publishers Immediate Relief from DOJ and LOC Overreach — Music Tech Solutions

DATE:            November 9, 2016

TO:                 Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress

FROM:           David Mao, Deputy Librarian of Congress

SUBJECT:      Hiring Criteria for Register of Copyrights

As you requested, following are recommended factors to consider when hiring the next Register of Copyrights.  Obviously, these are only suggestions as your power is absolute.

1. Be a kissass.
2. Have no original thought.
3. Be a kissass.
4. Speak to no one but your absoluteness.
5. Have excellent skills at making change in the LOC gift shop.
6. Demand even more deposit copies under compulsory licenses that permit free copying by our allies.
7. Know her/his place under your absoluteness.
8. Be a kissass.
9. Not look too hard for the owner of orphan works.
10. Support your brilliant interpretation of Section 115 to give our allies a free license, no liability and hiding in plain sight!  That is almost as brilliant as your interpretation of Section 108 to turn the LOC into a major feeder of Bit Torrent sites!  Genius!

Separately, we should continue to quote your brilliant Congressional testimony where you say that the the Library supports “creators”.  We know you meant YouTubers! Brava oh absolute one!  Fooled them again with your genius!

You may also be interested in the slides from my lunch time talk, “How to Sell the Library:  Tips for the Sovereignly  Immune” at which I will discuss including the Library’s mandatory deposit copies in Google’s scanning project, especially the sound recordings and movies!  Justice for Mickey at last!

 

There’s a massive infringer hiding in plain sight. That’s a tactic that worked from the Case of the Purloined Letter to Osama Bin Laden–worked for a while, anyway. So who is this massive infringer? Pirate Bay? mp3skull? YouTube-mp3? No–it’s Facebook. That’s right. Facebook, the property that every band is told they must be on, the […]

via Facebook the Massive Infringer — Artist Rights Watch