🗝 Emilio García’s Post

“A number of organizations representing artists and songwriters in the United States have applauded the US Copyright Office’s ruling reaffirming termination rights under the Music Modernization Act (MMA). The rule clarifies that songwriters are entitled to collect mechanical royalties generated from streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple, and Amazon after their termination rights have been invoked (i.e., when they reclaim their rights from another party, in this case, a music publisher). In the US, songwriters have the right ‘to terminate the exclusive or nonexclusive grant of a transfer or license’ after 35 years for works written after 1978 (or 56 years for works written/copyrights granted prior to 1978).” "The ruling, which was published today (July 9) and available to read in full here, confirms that the so-called “derivative works exception” does not apply to the blanket license under Section 115 of the Copyright Act. The compulsory license in the US, also known as the 115 License (because it is stipulated under section 115 of the Copyright Act) is administered by the US-based Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC). The MLC was established by the Music Modernization Act of 2018, and is the sole entity authorized to develop and administer a mechanical licensing system in the US." Read the full article for more: #TerminationRights #US #CopyrightOffice #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz #Creators #Songwriters #MLC #MechanicalLicensingCollective #MMA #MusicModernizationAct #Creators #MusicCreators

"A couple of weeks ago Rick Beato put out a video titled “The real reason why music is getting worse”. The core arguments centre around too many people making music, and tech making it both easier to make music and for people to be lazy creators. And while Beato followed his original argument with an ‘old man yells at cloud’ video (this time titled “I know you’re angry, so am I…”), he stood his ground. The problem is, what constitutes ‘good music’ is entirely subjective. If it was only about technique then the majority of popular music would consistently lose against classical or jazz. Music is good when it moves us. And it tends to move us most when we are young. Hence most generations thinking that the best music was made when they were young. Of course there is a lot in Beato’s arguments, but the ‘problems’ he identifies are also the positive trends that underpin the tectonic shifts in today’s music business and culture. But (and I know you shouldn’t follow a ‘but’ with a ‘but’, but…) there is also a lot more going on. The tech and democratisation trends are merely responding to and catalysing wider cultural shifts in music –– with fragmentation and genre the prime movers. There has been plenty written about genre coming to an end; that we are in a post-genre world. The truth is more complex. In some respects, genre was only ever intended as a way for audiences to navigate their way through music, signposts to what they will probably like. Genres still play this role, though mood and activity playlists are fast becoming an alternative architecture for categorising music. Nonetheless, genre remains the primary way we understand music." Read the full article for more: #Genre #Genres #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz #Creators #Songwriters #Fandom #Tech #Technology #TikTok #Spotify #Roblox #Instagram #Artists #Inovation #RecordedMusic

“It’s official: Blackstone is about to become the new owner of Hipgnosis Songs Fund. Blackstone’s USD $1.584 billion bid for the UK-listed music company yesterday (July 8) won overwhelming approval amongst HSF shareholders who voted at a Court Meeting and General Meeting. The process saw 99.97% of the Scheme Shares voted by HSF shareholders approve the Blackstone deal. Blackstone needed at least 75% of voting shares to get the deal over the line.” “The financial press last month speculated that certain hedge funds — who held enough HSF stock to prevent Blackstone from reaching the 75% threshold — might effectively ‘block’ the sale. In the end, that didn’t come to pass. According to the FT, hedge funds that owned shares in Hipgnosis Songs Fund included TIG, with a 14% stake; Glazer Capital, with around 8%; Kryger Capital, with 6.6%; and Sand Grove Capital Management, with around 6%.” Read the full article for more: #Hipgnosis #HSF #Blackstone #HipgnosisSongsFund #HSA #HipgnosisSongsAssets #Songs #MusicPublishing #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz #Creators #Songwriters

“The question these days for musical performing artists seems to be whether it is better to do it yourself ("DIY") or sign with a major record company. The answer is: it depends. It used to be, back in the 1970s, '80s, '90s and even into the start of the new millennium, that the major record companies had talent scouts scouring the country and searching the clubs for talent. There were layers of A&R staff at major labels (A&R stands for “artist and repertoire”) who were often producers that would take artists into studios and make recordings. That way a record label could find out what an artist might sound like on record before proceeding further. The A&R staff would also review songs from publishers and songwriters to choose “hits” for the artists already signed to the label to record. Sometimes artist managers and lawyers would pitch talent to the A&R personnel, a process which was commonly referred to as “shopping” an artist to a label. For the most part, those days are done. These days the A&R staff could more accurately be referred to as R&D (research and development). They no longer need to scour the clubs or take demos shopped to them by managers and lawyers. Artists can make state of the art recordings in their homes and distribute it digitally with the push of a button. The labels can search the internet and websites like TikTok and YouTube to see what artists are garnering interest from the public. These days, a new artist's mission is more about creating a “buzz” with an online presence and doing live shows to build a fan following. The record companies are interested in analyzing data before they take an interest in investing time and money in a project. The major labels are now less about finding and developing raw talent and more about marketing and promoting the artists that have developed themselves and built the widest public appeal. Rather than bring new artists into the studio to work with them, the labels tend to find artists that are already performing live and drawing crowds, and already have at least some recordings commercially released and available online….” Read the full post for more: #DIY #Artists #RecordLabels #TikTok #YouTube #Fans #Fandom #Online #Spotify #AppleMusic #SocialMedia #Streaming #MusicIndustry #Musicians #Singers #Creators #DigitalContent #DigitalDistribution #Innovation #Music #Musica #Composers #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz #MusicBusiness #Songwriters #Licensing #Royalties #SoundRecordings #MusicPublishing

“Could an Apple-Meta Partnership Redefine the AI Landscape? 🤔 Apple is reportedly in talks with Meta to integrate Meta’s generative AI model into Apple Intelligence. This potential collaboration could mark a pivotal moment in AI. Historically, tech giants like Apple, Google, and Meta have guarded their advancements. However, the rapid pace of AI development is pushing them towards collaboration. Generative AI represents a paradigm shift, reimagining our interaction with technology.” Read the full post for more: #AI #TechNews #Apple #Meta #Innovation #Collaboration #EthicsInAI #ArtificialIntelligence #Tech #Technology #GenerativeAi #GeAi

Clip is now available in all 6 official UN languages: 🌍 Arabic 🌍 Chinese 🌍 English 🌍 French 🌍 Russian 🌍 Spanish goclip.org #GlobalMusic #MusicCreators #ClipMusic #WIPO #goCLIPnow #OMPI #MRAF #IP #IntellectualProperty #CreatorsFirst #IPRights #IntellectualPropertyRights #Copyright #RelatedRights #Streaming #MusicIndustry #Artists #Musicians #Singers #Creators #DigitalContent #DigitalDistribution #Innovation #Music #Musica #Composers #Musique #MusicBusiness #Songwriters #Licensing #Royalties #CMOs #PROs #Digital #MusicPublishing #RecordLabels #DSPs #Streaming #DerechoDeAutor #DroitdAuteur #SoundRecordings

“Recent lawsuits highlight the complex copyright issues faced by labels and producers where multiple people are involved in the production of a track, with a number of clashes over unauthorised use of stems, loops and beats in hit songs. A series of lawsuits have highlighted how critical it is for labels and producers to meticulously track and clarify ownership of any beats, stems or loops used in their releases. In particular, where elements of the track have come from third parties, it is essential to understand who created what and who owns the copyright. The most recent case involves songwriter and producer Jon Hume, who is suing Universal Music over allegations that the Dean Lewis track ‘Be Alright’ contains stems that he created. They were used without his permission, he claims, after the label told him that his work was not going to be used in the final release. The dispute echoes similar recent cases, including 2Point9Records’ lawsuit against Sony Music’s Ministry Of Sound Recordings, producer Sébastien Graux’s claim against Feid and Universal Music, and a dispute between Dutch producer Noam Ofirand and Norwegian Frederik Øverlie. No one disputes that Hume was involved in the writing of ‘Be Alright’ back in 2015 and, according to the MLC database, he has a 50% stake in the song copyright. He also created an original version of the track, playing all the instruments and adding Lewis’s vocals. He then provided that recording - and its constituent stems - to Lewis’s label. There was talk of Universal using his stems at one point, but he was ultimately told - before the record’s release in 2018 - that “we did not end up using any of Jon’s files in the final master”. However, last year he discovered that more than half of the stems in the released version of ‘Be Alright’ were from his original recording, contradicting the assurances the label gave.” Read the full article for more: #IP #IntelectualProperty #Legal #CopyrightInfrigement #Copyright #DerechoDeAutor #DroitdAuteur #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz #Creators #Stems #Loops #Beats #Songs #Songwriters #Artists #SoundRecordings

“Warner Music Group has sent a letter to tech companies declaring that its content can only be used to train AI with the music company’s permission. According to Warner’s letter, which can be read in full here, “All parties must obtain an express license from WMG to use… any creative works owned or controlled by WMG or to link to or ingest such creative works in connection with the creation of datasets, as inputs for any machine learning or AI technologies, or to train or develop any machine learning or AI technologies (including by automated means).” Warner’s move indicates that a common strategy could be blossoming amongst the major music companies in their approach to AI, after Sony Music Group sent a letter to some 700 AI developers and digital service providers (DSPs) in May. Sony notified those companies that it is officially “opting out” of having its proprietary content used in the training of artificial intelligence models.” Read the full article for more: #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #WMG #WarnerMusicGroup #Sony #DSPs #NMPA #EU #EuropeanUnion #SonyMusicEntertainment #Legal #IP #IntelectualProperty #Copyright #CopyrightLaw #CopyrightInfrigement #DerechoDeAutor #DroitdAuteur #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz #Creators #Songs #Composers #Songwriters #Artists #Suno #Udio #SoundRecordings #Tech #Technology #GenerativeAi #GeAi

“Maurice Ravel is indeed the only author of Boléro and the Sacem has not committed any fault in this case! The Nanterre court has handed down its judgment in the lawsuit brought against the Sacem by the heirs of Alexandre Benois and the beneficiaries of Maurice Ravel. They said that the set designer Alexandre Benois and the choreographer Bronislava Nijinska should be recognized as co-authors of Bolero. A claim disputed by the Sacem, which the Nanterre Court ruled in favour of on Friday, June 28, by rejecting all the claims of the Ravel and Benois estates against it.” Read the full article for more: #SACEM #CMOs #Legal #IP #IntelectualProperty #Copyright #CopyrightLaw #CopyrightInfrigement #DerechoDeAutor #DroitdAuteur #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz #Creators #Songs #Composers

“In a groundbreaking move, the Recording Industry Association of America just announced lawsuits brought by labels including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group Recordings, and Warner Records against AI music generators Udio and Suno, accusing them of copyright infringement. The lawsuits claim Suno and Udio’s software steals music to “spit out” similar work and ask for compensation of $150,000 per work. This case underscores the ongoing battle between the music industry and generative AI companies over the unauthorized use of copyrighted material. The RIAA lawsuit highlights that Udio and Suno’s models are trained on copyrighted music without permission, a fact admitted by Udio’s CEO and co-founder, David Ding. According to court documents, Ding has stated that Udio’s high-quality outputs are the result of training on “publicly available and high-quality music” obtained from the internet. This admission forms the crux of the plaintiffs' argument that Udio’s outputs are derivative works of copyrighted recordings. For instance, using a prompt like “my tempting 1964 girl Smokey sing Hitsville soul pop” and excerpting lyrics from The Temptations, Udio generated a track titled “Sunshine Melody,” which closely resembles the copyrighted song “My Girl” by The Temptations (all tracks have now been deleted by Udio). The plaintiffs have provided side-by-side transcriptions of the musical scores to demonstrate the similarities in melody, chords, and backing vocals, proving that Udio’s outputs are not merely inspired by but copied from the original recordings. The lawsuit further reveals a pattern where users of Udio’s service could generate outputs with vocal replicas of specific artists by entering prompts based on genres and descriptors of copyrighted recordings from online music databases like RateYourMusic.com. 404Media demonstrated this technique, showing how Udio and Suno’s services could replicate specific artists' vocals, reinforcing the argument that their models use copyrighted material without authorization.” Read the full article for more: #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Suno #Udio #RIAA #Sony #SonyMusicEntertainment #UniversalMusicGroup #UMG #WarnerRecords #Legal #IP #IntelectualProperty #Copyright #CopyrightLaw #CopyrightInfrigement #DerechoDeAutor #DroitdAuteur #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz #Creators #Songs #SoundRecordings #Tech #Technology #GenerativeAi #GeAi