Harvey Weinsten, Matthew Weiner, Kurt Sutter Urge Congress to Support Strong Copyright System — They and over 1500 other creators and artists of all types sent a letter to Congress this week saying, in part, “Our copyright system is not perfect but, like democracy, it is better than the alternatives. It works. We urge Congress to resist attempts to erode the right of creatives to determine when and how they share their works in the global marketplace.”
Free trade benefits businesses here in Tennessee — David Macias, president of indie musician management, marketing, and distribution company Thirty Tigers, pens this op-ed in The Tennessean on the need to pass trade promotion authority and finalize negotiations on free trade agreements. Says Macias, “We have recently expanded our services to all of Europe and Australia, and the ease of which we can gain access to those markets, thanks to free trade agreements, helps not only my business but the artists who we represent. When my business grows, I employ more American workers. When my artists are able to grow their careers and tour in those markets, they employ guitar techs and road managers who live and pay taxes in Nashville.”
Turning a Profit From Music Mashups — More evidence that the current legal framework for remixes works. “Dubset Media Inc. has developed technology to track how much of each song is used in any given DJ-made track or mix. It can then calculate royalties owed to artists like Lady Gaga or Jay Z whose music was sampled. The New York-based startup is in discussions with the major record labels—Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group, Sony Corp.’s Sony Music Entertainment and Access Industries’ Warner Music Group—to license music that DJs have mixed. Such deals could pave the way for Dubset to distribute such mixes to streaming services such as Spotify.”
ICLE White Paper: Broad fair use exceptions could discourage innovation worldwide — This week, the International Center for Law & Economics released a white paper arguing that “if broad fair use exceptions are infused into trade agreements they could increase piracy and discourage artistic creation and innovation — especially in nations without a strong legal tradition implementing such provisions.”
The Lines of Copyright Infringement Have Always Been Blurred — We’ve heard a lot about the Blurred Lines verdict this week. Here, Rick Sanders makes a number of important points about the trial and its outcome, many of which have been overlooked by the deluge of superficial analyses found elsewhere.