Updates for Nov. 20 @ArtistRights Symposium at @AmericanU @KogodBiz in Washington DC

We are announcing the time schedule and speakers for the 4th annual Artist Rights Symposium on November 20. The symposium is supported by the Artist Rights Institute and was founded by Dr. David C. Lowery, Lecturer at the University of Georgia Terry College of Business.

This year the symposium is hosted in Washington, DC, by American University’s Kogod School of Business at American’s Constitution Hall, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016.  We are also pleased to have a Kogod student presentation on speculative ticketing as part of the speaker lineup.

Admission is free, but please reserve a spot with Eventbrite, seating is limited!

The symposium starts at 8:30 am and ends with a reception at 4:30pm. The symposium will be recorded as an audiovisual presentation for distribution at a later date, but will not be live-streamed. If you attend, understand that you may be filmed in any audience shots, questions from the floor or still images. The symposium social media hashtag is #ArtistRightsKogod.

Schedule

8:30 — Doors open, networking coffee.

9:00-9:10 — Welcome remarks by David Marchick, Dean, Kogod School of Business

9:10-9:15 — Welcome remarks by Christian L. Castle, Esq., Director, Artist Rights Institute

9:15-10:15 — THE TROUBLE WITH TICKETS:  The Challenges of Ticket Resellers and Legislative Solutions:

Kevin Erickson, Director, Future of Music Coalition, Washington DC
Dr. David C. Lowery, Co-founder of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, University of Georgia
  Terry College of Business, Athens, Georgia
Stephen Parker, Executive Director, National Independent Venue Association, Washington DC
Mala Sharma, President, Georgia Music Partners, Atlanta, Georgia

Moderator:  Christian L. Castle, Esq., Director, Artist Rights Institute, Austin, Texas

10:15-10:30: NIVA Speculative Ticketing Project Presentation by Kogod students

10:30-10:45: Coffee break

10:45-11:00: OVERVIEW OF CURRENT ISSUES IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LITIGATION: Kevin Madigan, Vice President, Legal Policy and Copyright Counsel, Copyright Alliance

11:00-12 pm: SHOW ME THE CREATOR – Transparency Requirements for AI Technology:

Danielle Coffey, President & CEO, News Media Alliance, Arlington, Virginia
Dahvi Cohen, Legislative Assistant, U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff, Washington, DC
Ken Doroshow, Chief Legal Officer, Recording Industry Association of America, Washington DC 

Moderator: Linda Bloss-Baum, Director of the Kogod School of Business’s Business & Entertainment Program

12:00-12:30: Lunch break

12:30-1:30: Keynote: Graham Davies, President and CEO of the Digital Media Association, Washington DC.

1:30-1:45: Coffee break

1:45-2:45: CHICKEN AND EGG SANDWICH:  Bad Song Metadata, Unmatched Funds, KYC and What You Can Do About It

Richard James Burgess, MBE, President & CEO, American Association of Independent Music, New York
Helienne Lindvall, President, European Composer & Songwriter Alliance, London, England
Abby North, President, North Music Group, Los Angeles
Anjula Singh, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, SoundExchange, Washington DC

Moderator:  Christian L. Castle, Esq, Director, Artist Rights Institute, Austin, Texas

2:45-3:15: Reconvene across street to International Service Founders Room for concluding speakers and reception

3:15-3:30: OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LEGISLATION: George York, Senior Vice President International Policy from RIAA.

3:30-4:30: NAME, IMAGE AND LIKENESS RIGHTS IN THE AGE OF AI:  Current initiatives to protect creator rights and attribution

Jeffrey Bennett, General Counsel, SAG-AFTRA, Washington, DC
Jen Jacobsen, Executive Director, Artist Rights Alliance, Washington DC
Jalyce E. Mangum, Attorney-Advisor, U.S. Copyright Office, Washington DC

Moderator
John Simson, Program Director Emeritus, Business & Entertainment, Kogod School of Business, American University

4:30-5:30: Concluding remarks by Linda Bloss-Baum, Director of the Kogod School of Business’s Business & Entertainment Program and reception.

NAME, IMAGE AND LIKENESS RIGHTS: New Speaker Update for Nov. 20 @ArtistRights Symposium at @AmericanU @KogodBiz in Washington DC

We are announcing more topics and new speakers for the 4th annual Artist Rights Symposium on November 20, this year hosted in Washington, DC, by American University’s Kogod School of Business at American’s Constitution Hall, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016.  The symposium is also supported by the Artist Rights Institute and was founded by Dr. David Lowery, Lecturer at the University of Georgia Terry College of Business.

We’re pleased to add an overview of artificial intelligence litigation in the US by Kevin Madigan, Vice President, Legal Policy and Copyright Counsel from the Copyright Alliance and an overview of international artificial intelligence-related legislation by George York, Senior Vice President International Policy from RIAA. We’re also announcing our fourth panel and speaker line up:

NAME, IMAGE AND LIKENESS RIGHTS IN THE AGE OF AICurrent initiatives to protect creator rights and attribution

Jeffrey Bennett, General Counsel, SAG-AFTRA, Washington, DC
Jen Jacobson, Executive Director, Artist Rights Alliance, Washington DC
Jalyce E. Mangum, Attorney-Advisor, U.S. Copyright Office, Washington DC

Moderator
: John Simson, Program Director Emeritus, Business & Entertainment, Kogod School of Business, American University

Panels will begin at 8:30 am and end by 5 pm, with lunch and refreshments. More details to follow. Contact the Artist Rights Institute for any questions.

Admission is free, but please reserve a spot with Eventbrite, seating is limited! (Eventbrite works best with Firefox)

Previously confirmed panelists are:

Keynote: Graham Davies, President and CEO of the Digital Media Association, Washington DC.  Graham will speak around lunchtime.

CHICKEN AND EGG SANDWICH:  Bad Song Metadata, Unmatched Funds, KYC and What You Can Do About It

Richard James Burgess, MBE, President & CEO, American Association of Independent Music, New York
Helienne Lindvall, President, European Composer & Songwriter Alliance, London, England
Abby North, President, North Music Group, Los Angeles
Anjula Singh, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, SoundExchange, Washington DC

Moderator:  Christian L. Castle, Esq, Director, Artist Rights Institute, Austin, Texas

SHOW ME THE CREATOR – Transparency Requirements for AI Technology:

Danielle Coffey, President & CEO, News Media Alliance, Arlington, Virginia
Dahvi Cohen, Legislative Assistant, U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff, Washington, DC
Ken Doroshow, Chief Legal Officer, Recording Industry Association of America, Washington DC 

Moderator: Linda Bloss-Baum, Director of the Kogod School of Business’s Business & Entertainment Program

THE TROUBLE WITH TICKETS:  The Economics and Challenges of Ticket Resellers and Legislative Solutions:

Kevin Erickson, Director, Future of Music Coalition, Washington DC
Dr. David C. Lowery, Co-founder of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, University of Georgia
  Terry College of Business, Athens, Georgia
Stephen Parker, Executive Director, National Independent Venue Association, Washington DC
Mala Sharma, President, Georgia Music Partners, Atlanta, Georgia

Moderator:  Christian L. Castle, Esq., Director, Artist Rights Institute, Austin, Texas

BMI’s Happy Talk Campaign Has Failed

By Chris Castle

According to Billboard, Complete Music Update, and the awesome MusicAlly, nobody appears to be buying what they’re selling over to the BMI. For what seems like the second time in less than 30 days, Artist Rights Alliance, Black Music Action Coalition, Music Artists Coalition, SAG-AFTRA and Songwriters of North America rejected the hummina, hummina, hummina happy talk from BMI’s comms shop which comes out to trickle down mixed with a rising tide.

It’s really a shame because it would have been so easy to provide concrete answers if for no other reason than SAG-AFTRA is on a war footing already and is likely not going to back down. And with SAG-AFTRA comes the AFL-CIO which for BMI’s benefit are unions, see, unions that have been down this path before and are…oh, yes…on strike right now. How close are we to signs like this showing up outside of BMI HQ in New York? It’s OK, Larry and Sergey didn’t think they’d get one, either. Thank goodness we have the smart people to guide us. But BMI should look closely at this picture of a Google labor action and think about what they’d do if it happened to them.

When the CEO is trying to sell the company, in a very real sense they are auditioning for continued employment. Do you think this helps or hurts? Friends don’t let friends become a closing condition.

[This post first appeared on MusicTechPolicy]

@artistrightsnow Op-Ed: Spotify’s New ‘Discovery Mode’ Is Just Payola — Artist Rights Watch

Getting discovered in the music business has never been easy. Before the pandemic, artists could at least rely on the industry’s historic mainstay to break through — playing as many gigs as possible and hoping to build a following. But with that path closed for now, artists and their label partners are increasingly dependent on Spotify, the undisputed king of music streaming, and its black box algorithms.

That’s why Spotify’s cynical decision to use this moment to launch a new pay-for-play scheme pressuring vulnerable artists and smaller labels to accept lower royalties in exchange for a boost on the company’s algorithms is so exploitative and unfair. Artists must unite to condemn this thinly disguised royalty cut, which apparently has just been released in “beta” mode and is soon expected to enter the market in full force. 

Read the post on Rolling Stone