Copyright
Copyright Royalty Board Approves Industry-Wide Settlement for 15.35% Royalty Increase
The United States’ Copyright Royalty Board has approved new rates amid a long-standing battle between digital service providers and songwriters, recording artists and music publishers. Known as “Phonorecords IV” or “CRB IV,” the settlement will incrementally increase royalties for over the next five years until it reaches 15.35% in 2027, according to the board’s members. On January 1st, 2023, songwriters and music publishers received a rate of 15.1% of a U.S. streaming service’s revenue. In 2024, it will raise to 15.2% In 2025, it will raise to 15.25% In 2026, it will raise to 15.3% In 2027, it will raise to 15.35% Songwriters and music publishers have long received the short end of the stick, but thanks to support from the NMPA as well as va...
RIAA Raises Concerns Over Digital Music Services Enabling A.I. Piracy
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is sounding the alarm on the potential for A.I. piracy as the technology begins to proliferate throughout the field of music tech. The emerging prominence of A.I. extractors, mixers and more raises some intriguing questions around creator ethics. Can artificial intelligence infringe upon someone’s copyright? Furthermore, is A.I.-generated content in itself copyrightable? While those questions linger, the RIAA is proactively taking a strong stance against multiple branches of A.I.-generated content. In its most recent report to the U.S. Trade Representative, the RIAA takes aim at a few specific digital services designed with the intent to use existing copyrighted materials to create derivative works. “There are online services that,...
Ed Sheeran Must Face Trial Over Accusation That He Copied Marvin Gaye Song
A federal judge says Ed Sheeran must face a jury trial over whether he stole key pieces of his “Thinking Out Loud” from Marvin Gaye‘s iconic “Let’s Get It On,” rejecting the British singer-songwriter’s efforts to toss out the long-running copyright case. Sheeran’s attorneys argued that the lawsuit – filed by an entity that owns a partial stake in Gaye’s famous 1973 song – was invalid because the combination of simple elements the singer allegedly stole was not unique enough to be covered by a copyright in the first place. But in a ruling on Thursday, Judge Louis Stanton said there was “no bright-line rule” for deciding such questions and that the pop star would need to make his arguments before a jury of his peers. The decision sets the stage for a blockbuster trial at a Manhattan federal ...
YouTube’s New Creator Music Program Is Its Solution to Copyright Strikes and TikTok
Uploading a video to YouTube is like bracing for impact. You never know when their Content ID system is going to hit you with a copyright strike. But YouTube’s newly unveiled Creator Music program aims to be the solution the company and its creators have longed for. The program is currently in beta testing, but it will add a large catalog of licensable music for creators to use in their videos. Users will be able to search, browse and purchase these tracks and agree to terms that aren’t bogged down by legal jargon. The way YouTube currently functions is through a very robust Content ID system. Creators can utilize YouTube’s stock music, but the library is limited and its song don’t always fit their content. Video creators have tried to use music ou...
Why Can Miley Cyrus Be Sued for Posting a Photo of Herself to Instagram?
Stars like Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa keep getting sued for posting paparazzi pictures of themselves to social media. That might seem unfair, but the law just isn’t on their side. Cyrus became the latest celebrity to face such accusations on Friday when photographer Robert Barbera filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the star, claiming she reposted his 2020 photo that showed her waving to onlookers to Instagram without a license. If that sounds familiar, it should: the same photographer filed a very similar lawsuit against Dua Lipa in June, similarly accusing her of violating his copyrights by posting one of his photos to social media. This doesn’t seem fair. Why can he sue celebrities over images of themselves? For celebrities who are hounded by paparazzi, it may seem only fair th...
Sony Lawsuit Claims Triller Hasn’t Paid in Months But Is Still Using Its Music Catalog
Sony Music Entertainment is suing Triller for breach of contract, claiming the video-sharing social networking app has failed to make payments for months and after being served a termination notice has also failed to pull the company’s catalog of music from the platform. According to Sony’s lawsuit filed Monday (Aug. 29) in New York, Triller has “historically failed to make payments in a timely manner” but those “failures” escalated in March 2022 when the company “failed to make any monthly payments required under the Agreement, totaling millions of dollars.” Since then, Triller has allegedly continued to fail to pay its outstanding fees, despite Sony’s requests (“and near-total radio silence in response,” the suit states). On July 22, Sony notified Triller that it was in material breach o...
New Zealand Extends Copyright Term to 70 Years
New Zealand has agreed to extend the term of copyright in sound recordings, a development the domestic music industry is celebrating as a “long overdue change” that should further protect authors, performers and producers. Currently, NZ recording artists and right holders enjoy copyright protection on their recordings for 50 years from the date of release. Those protections will be extended to 70 years, thanks to a NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement — announced this week — which brings New Zealand’s copyright regulations into line with those across the European Union as a trading partner. Recorded Music NZ CEO Jo Oliver welcomes the outcome as one that places domestic artists and rights holders “on a level playing field with their overseas counterparts.” Oliver continues, “copyright enables artist...
Ye Sued Over Sample Used on ‘Donda 2’ Track ‘Flowers’
Ye is facing yet another copyright infringement lawsuit over his unauthorized use of a sample, this time on a track from his most recent album, Donda 2. According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in New York on Wednesday (June 29), the rapper (referred to as Kanye West in the suit) sampled Marshall Jefferson’s 1986 house track “Move Your Body” (a.k.a. “The House Music Anthem”) on the song “Flowers” without gaining permission or providing compensation. The suit claims that the sample is “repeated at least 22 times throughout” Ye’s song. Filed by attorneys Christine Lepera and Bradley J. Mullins of the firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, the complaint was brought by Jefferson’s publisher Ultra International Music Publishing. Jefferson both wrote and performed “Move Your Body,” w...
Here’s Why Dua Lipa Can Be Sued for Posting Photos of Herself
For the second time in a year, Dua Lipa is facing a lawsuit over posting a paparazzi picture of herself to her Instagram account. In a suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in California, New York-based photographer Robert Barbera claims that the singer committed copyright infringement by posting pics he took of her to the platform in July 2018. On the surface, it might seem odd that a celebrity can be sued for posting a picture of themselves on social media. But in these cases, the law is fairly clear on what rights stars have when it comes to this corner of the intellectual property world. “Generally, under U.S. copyright law, the person who ‘authored’ a work is the copyright owner,” reads an explainer article posted by the business/entertainment Romano Law firm on the subject in N...
Enforcing Rights Just Got Much Easier for Copyright Owners
Copyrights are very expensive and timely to enforce. The United States established the Copyright Claims Board (CCB), which allows copyright owners to file disputes and resolve issues more efficiently and avoid an expensive federal court case. Comprising three members who are well-versed in copyright law, the CCB was developed from the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (CASE) Act of 2020. Damages can’t exceed $30,000, which seems like a lot. If you use an attorney you can get an additional $5,000 and $2,500 if you don’t. But if you’re a musician with work that gets stolen from someone whose track ultimately goes Platinum, you could likely sue for much more in damages. “Copyrights [are] an issue for federal courts only—it’s not a state ...
Dua Lipa Sued (Again) for Posting Paparazzi Photos of Herself to Instagram
Dua Lipa is being sued for posting paparazzi photos of herself to Instagram for the second time in a year, according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court in California. This time, a New York-based photographer named Robert Barbera is claiming the singer committed copyright infringement after posting photos he took of her in July 2018 to the social media platform. “Without permission or authorization from Plaintiff, Defendant volitionally selected, copied, stored and displayed each of Plaintiff’s copyright protected Photographs,” the complaint, written by attorney Craig Sanders, reads. The photos in question, which were also taken in July 2018 and attached as an exhibit to the suit, show Lipa wearing a black sweater bearing the word “HEROES” in large capital letters. As in the pr...
NMPA Announces Legal Campaign Against Unlicensed Apps at Annual Meeting
The National Music Publishers’ Association is going after apps that skim music from digital services without getting the necessary licenses. On Wednesday (June 15), during the NMPA’s annual meeting in New York at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, the trade group’s president and CEO David Israelite announced a new copyright infringement lawsuit filed against the music video-making app Vinkle. This was the first action in a new campaign to bring the app sector into line with U.S. Copyright law, Israelite said, which will also include cease-and-desist notices sent to about another almost 100 apps that the organization believes are not properly licensed. These apps may integrate music through licensed streaming services, but do not have their own licensing deals with rights holders. In a mo...
