On January 15th, the Department of Justice announced it has ended its two-year review of the 80-year old consent decrees that govern the operation of the largest music performing rights organizations in the United States: ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.). The DOJ decided not to
Some Essential Facts About Music Performance Rights Organizations
1. Registration of a song with a PRO does not provide any copyright protection.
The most common misunderstanding I encounter from songwriters is that registering their songs with one of the U.S. music performance rights organizations (“PROs”), i.e. ASCAP, BMI, SESAC or GMR, gives the songwriter some protection of their intellectual property rights in their
ACLU Files Amicus Brief in Defamation Suit Against HBO for Last Week Tonight Episode
The West Virginia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union recently filed an amicus brief in support of John Oliver, HBO and Time Warner, all of whom have been named as defendants in a defamation lawsuit filed by coal mogul, Robert Murray, over comments made by Oliver on the comedian’s “Last Week Tonight” cable television
Bob Gaudio Tells Spotify To Walk Like a Man
Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming service, was sued last week for over $366 million by two music publishers, Bluewater Music Services in Nashville and a group of companies affiliated with Bob Gaudio, the award-winning songwriter and member of Franki Valli and the Four Seasons.
Each plaintiff claims in their lawsuit that Spotify failed to