Foster the People, 'Pumped Up Kicks'

I hear this song everywhere, but it hasn't worn out yet. I really dig it.

Foster the People - 'Pumped Up Kicks'

Discussion of Legal Podcasts

Over the last week or two I have listened to a few podcasts going over legal issues and developments in the entertainment industry. The issues that they have discussed have ranged from film to music to internet. Even though some of these developments my not have occurred in your field of the entertainment industry it is always good to be knowledgeable in other areas and usually you can still apply the concept to your own field.

The first podcast I listened to was from Episode 12 of the Entertainment Law Update with Gordon Firemark and Tamera Bennett. You can find the podcast here. While Firemark and Bennett discussed many developments within the industry, only a few stuck with me.

·      Broadcasting Royalties – The Broadcast Performance Right Act will allow for royalties to be paid on the recordings. Satellite radio broadcasters are already paying royalties, but now this will apply to regular AM/FM radio. This could hurt smaller radio stations because they may not have the funds to pay the royalty rates, but the larger broadcasters will be fine due to a rise in advertising. Firemark says that it will “level the playing field with satellite radio.”

·      Ringtone Royalties – In the RIAA v. Librarian of Congress, the Copyright Royalty Board exercised its statutory responsibility and set a royalty rate of $0.24 per copyrighted ringtone. Bennet made a great point in that the market for the ringtone is dying, and maybe this royalty rate should have come sooner.

·      Viacom v. YouTube and Google – Viacom lost the infringement case against YouTube. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) YouTube is not liable for the copyright infringement that Viacom is alleging. The DMCA creates a safe harbor for “user-generated content” websites and allows YouTube to not “police” the site to find users that are infringing on copyrights.

The next podcast was from April 29, 2011 on 103.1 INDIE radio’s show called Barely Legal Radio with Joe Escalante. You can find the podcast here. Again, these are the issues that I got the most from.

·      One caller had recently gotten his band back together and had a question regarding their name. The name of the band is “Los Federalies” and the caller informed Escalante that there were other mariachi/salsa bands with the name, but spelled as “Los Federales.” Before putting out an album, the band wanted to make sure they would not be infringing on anyone. Escalante informed him that it wasn’t necessarily the spelling that matter, because if someone heard “Los Federalies” announced on the radio there would be no way of telling them apart from “Los Federales.” This would cause confusion and the trademark laws are there to prevent confusion. Escalante suggested that if the name was not trademarked, then he could register it if he had the proof to show that the band had been using it longer.

·      The next caller had a question regarding adding his music to a movie clip or a montage of movie shots to post onto YouTube. He had seen this done by other undiscovered bands and wanted to make sure it was legal before moving forward. Escalante informed him that movie clips and stills are copyrighted materials, so that would be considered infringing. But he points out that this happens a lot on YouTube and there aren’t many consequences for it. Only when the copyright owner notices it or if the video has received negative feedback will it be removed.

The last podcast that I listened to focused on “cloud” technology. Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell from Legal Talk Network discuss the new technology in the “Lawyers in the iCloud” episode from June 20, 2011, found here.

·      Recently Apple announced the arrival of iOS 5, Lion, and iCloud systems in the fall of 2011. iCloud being the big announcement since many other companies have their own version of the technology. This will allow people to access their iTunes, photos, documents, apps, books, back up, contacts, calendar, and mail from a remote location. iCloud will be different from other systems in that it will be simple. The idea is to make it where you don’t even need to think about using it; it will be automatic with no synchronizing.

The legal side of this topic concerns confidential information that does not live on a personal server, but in the cloud. Security could be an issue for companies to worry about with cloud computing. Kennedy and Mighell make the point that since this is the direction that everyone is moving towards, the convenience of the system may outweigh the risks of the system. They give the example of lawyers using the system for their legal documents, asking would they be comfortable having these items in the cloud? But if these legal teams do not join in the cloud computing age, they will mostly likely be left behind and still searching for their documents on other systems. These security issues don’t just apply to legal teams, but to everyone. Artists and musicians will have their creations stored on the cloud and could also be susceptible to theft. But I agree with Kennedy and Mighell that the convenience will outweigh the possible threats of the system.

Even though each topic was different from one another, each can be applied to any field. You must always watch out how you promote your brand and make sure you are going about it the correct way. This includes the spelling of your name, the sound bites you play, the videos you upload, or your personal property on the cloud. Be cautious in each business transaction and make the right decisions.
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Sources:

http://www.entertainmentlawupdate.com/2010/06/entertainment-law-update-episode-12-youtube-hurt-locker-idea-theft-more/
http://www.gehrkelaw.com/2010/06/riaa-v-library-of-congress.html

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/06/youtube-wins-summary-judgment-viacom-dmca

http://blip.tv/barely-legal-radio/rss/itunes

http://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/kennedy-mighell-report/2011/06/lawyers-in-the-icloud/

I Heart Spotify

I finally made it onto Spotify. I'm loving it… What do you think of it? Will you upgrade?

Stuck in my brain…

Matt & Kim - 'Yea Yeah' (Flosstradamus Remix)

Is Legislation Keeping Up With The Times?

With the internet continuously growing, the music and concert industries have had a tough time keeping up with the pace of changes. With issues such as piracy, scalping, and other intellectual property theft, the industry has taken a big blow. Here are a few developments in the legislation of these issues:

PROTECT IP Act:

The PROTECT IP Act, a renamed and newer version of COICA, has been in the works for a while now, but has been put on hold since May 2011. TechDirt reports that the bill restricts the ‘definition’ of what is considered an infringing activity by a competing site, and not only will it focus on removing the sites involved in these activities, but also bring lawsuits to the people responsible. Mike Masnick of TechDirt reports that the act is not all what it seems; though these issues seem like a step in the right direction, if you read further they are either not true or limited greatly. An example is the definition of a qualifying infringing site:

The term "Internet site dedicated to infringing activities" means an Internet site accessed through a specific domain name that has no [substantial/ significant] use other than, or is designed, operated, or marketed by its operator persons operating in concert with the operator, [and is in fact,] primarily as a means for --

1.    enabling or facilitating the reproduction, distribution, or performance of copyright works, in complete or substantially complete form, in a manner that constitutes copyright infringement under section 501 of title 17, or offering goods or services in violation of section 1201 of title 17; or

2.    enabling or facilitating sale, distribution, or promotion of goods, services or materials bearing a counterfeit market, as that term is defined in section 34(d) of the Lanham Act;

[provided that there is no objectively reasonable interpretation of an express license between the owner or operator of such Internet site and the copyright owner or trademark owner or an agent thereof that authorizes the activities;], (Masnick, 2011).

Though this definition seems to be a bit more specific than COICA’s, it is still pretty broad allowing many sites to slip through. While this is only one of the many issues, many are still pushing for it to be passed. Hopefully they will take advantage of this time while the bill is on hold and fix a few problem areas.

Ticket Resale Laws:

This week, July 13^th – 15^th, is the annual Ticket Summit being held in Las Vegas, NV. This live entertainment industry conference is a huge event and features many industry leaders in its panel roster. During the ‘Legal Issues & Ticketing Trends’ panel, speakers are likely to discuss the Ticket Resale Laws that affect all second hand ticket resellers.

Reselling tickets for a profit, or scalping, is illegal in most states, but with the internet it has become more of an issue. The legal department of TicketNews will be offering the updated version of “Ticket Resale Laws” for purchase at the conference. These documents help companies to navigate through the legal jargon of reselling event tickets and avoid getting themselves into trouble. These documents can be purchased here, as well.

Cloud Technology:

With the rise of cloud technology, many people are getting their music for free online. SoundCloud is just one of those hubs that offer users to upload and download music. It is a great tool for those who are promoting their own music, but it is also used to distribute popular tracks.

SoundCloud recently put into place a copyright filter that allows user to designate what music is theirs. This filter will automatically recognize the artist’s content and block it on other users’ profiles. This filter was put into effect to help dodge lawsuits and also to keep the music industry happy.

If you happen to have a copyrighted song on your SoundCloud, you may have received a warning like this…

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References:

http://i.imgur.com/Dk4Si.png

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/ticket-summitr-to-shed-light-on-state-of-the-entertainment-industry-1534439.htm

http://www.quora.com/Why-has-SoundCloud-not-been-shut-down-by-the-RIAA-for-promoting-piracy

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110511/00115314234/full-text-protect-ip-act-released-good-bad-horribly-ugly.shtml

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110526/10364214443/ron-wyden-puts-hold-protect-ip-temporarily-withdraws-amendment-patriot-act.shtml

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110705/02174514963/smear-campaign-ramps-up-against-those-who-believe-free-speech-is-more-important-than-hollywoods-obsolete-business-model.shtml

http://www.techdirt.com/blog/?company=soundcloud

http://www.ticketnews.com/news/New-ticket-industry-legal-documents-to-debut-at-Ticket-Summit7101239%20

http://www.ticketnews.com/news/New-York-ticket-resale-law-could-impact-similar-laws-in-other-states7106981

The Strokes - 'Taken For A Fool'

The Strokes - 'Taken For A Fool'

7/29/11 UPDATE: I guess the video is now restricted, but if you click the link on the video, it'll take you back to YouTube.