Category Rights Licensing
New Study on ROI from Rights & Royalties Management in Book Publishing
The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) has just published a study on the ROI of rights and royalties systems in book publishing, which I did along with my colleague Steve Sieck. It’s free to BISG members. We interviewed executives at over a dozen publishing companies and literary agencies, and we worked with them to quantify […]
Spotify Brings Music into Podcasts
(This is my first article in a while; I have been working on a larger-scale writing project over the past couple of months, about which I hope to be able to share more soon. I am also in discussions with the Copyright Society of the USA about the next Copyright and Technology conference; we are […]
Plugging Another Analog Hole in Music Royalties
While many areas of the music industry have digital infrastructure in place to facilitate royalty payments more or less accurately, a few analog corners remain. These are for music uses where royalties are calculated based on incomplete information using statistical samples and other “black box” methods. One of them is terrestrial AM/FM radio: performance rights […]
Music Modernization Act Loses Opportunity to Clean Up Music Industry Data
Last week the U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to adopt the Senate’s modified version of the Music Modernization Act (MMA). It’s expected to become law with the President’s signature imminently. The bill’s trip from the House to the Senate had several twists and turns, with parties such as Blackstone Group (controlling owners of the […]
EU Parliament Approves Watered-Down Copyright Directive
This past Tuesday, the European Union Parliament approved a heavily amended version of the copyright reform legislation that has been generating much controversy over the past couple of years. We’ve been looking specifically at Article 13 of the proposed Directive, which has generated the most controversy for its inclusion of provisions that would require online services […]
Would Article 13 Give Copyright Owners What They Want?
Last week, the European Parliament moved the EU’s new Copyright Directive along in its legislative process; it passed out of the Legal Affairs Committee and is due for a plenary vote in September. One of the most controversial provisions of the new Directive is the forbodingly-named Article 13. Article 13 would require online services to […]
Music Modernization Act Draws Concerns About Mechanical Licensing Agency
The Copyright Society of the USA’s Annual Meeting took place over the past couple of days in Toronto. One of the many interesting sessions was one on music licensing, where we from the U.S. got to learn that Canada has just as much of a “sausage factory” as we do when it comes to the […]
March 20 Panel on Music Copyright Reform
I’ll be speaking on a panel on music copyright reform on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, March 20, from noon-2pm, hosted by the Technology Policy Institute. The primary topic of conversation will be the Music Modernization Act (MMA), the bill that would establish a blanket mechanical license on musical compositions for streaming music services […]
Improving the Music Modernization Act
The Music Modernization Act (MMA) has been getting traction in the United States. It was introduced into the Senate two weeks ago, and it has become part of a larger package of music copyright legislation which has become known as the “Music Bus” bill. More and more organizations have announced their support for the MMA. Many […]
Music Modernization Act Proposes Single Solution to Mechanical Licensing Problem
The music industry’s licensing problems just got another proposed governmental solution, with last week’s introduction in Congress of the Music Modernization Act (MMA). The MMA is a bipartisan bill that would provide a blanket mechanical license and set up a collecting society to manage payments to composers and publishers. It aims to solve a particular […]
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