Terry K. Quan

“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

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“A lawsuit filed against US streaming service Pandora by the MLC is “a wild overreach” of the US mechanical rights collecting society’s remit. Or so says Pandora, in its response to that lawsuit. As well as disputing the claims made against it - the MLC “apparently thinks it knows better than the entire music publishing industry” Expanding on that theme, Pandora argues that the MLC - which was created by the 2018 US Music Modernization Act - is not “authorised to play judge and jury over a streaming service’s legal compliance”, nor can it “insist that Pandora fundamentally change its approach to licensing an entire tier of its service solely because the MLC has taken upon itself to press a legally incoherent position at odds with the view of the rest of the music industry”…. This dispute centres on what licences Pandora requires when it comes to the songs that its users stream. With on-demand streaming, like Spotify, it is agreed that services exploit both the performing rights and the mechanical rights of songs. In some countries, these different elements of the song copyright are licensed separately. In the US, collecting societies like BMI and ASCAP license the performing rights, while the MLC administers the compulsory licence that covers mechanical rights.” #Pandora #MLC #Streaming #Legal #Licensing #Copyright #CopyrightLaw #Interactive #StreamingRoyalties #Royalties #RecordedMusic #StreamingServices #StreamingMedia #MusicStreams #MusicRoyalties #Songs #Recordings #US #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz

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Paying out an additional £6 million (approx. USD $7.7 million) in royalties from online services - “UK-based royalty collection society PRS for Music says it will be paying out an additional GBP £6 million (approx. USD $7.7 million) in royalties from online services to songwriters and composers annually, thanks to a reduction in its administration rate. The collection society said it’s reducing its admin rate on multi-territory online (MTOL) royalties by 20% – from a 10% rate to an 8% rate – as a result of the CMO “surpassing its targets, delivering historic distributions and revenues, and becoming a billion-pound society.” Announced at its 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM) today (June 4), PRS estimates the reduction will see £1.5 million more paid out to members in each of its quarterly royalty distributions starting from October this year.” #PRS #CMOs #UK #MusicRoyaties #Songwriters #Composers #MusicPublishing #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz

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From a great legal mind, this is THE primer for understanding the TV business.

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For those of you with California loan out corporations, beware..this new announcement will likely flip the way we do business on Productions. Credit to Cast and Crew for sending this preliminary info out. #elp #Entertainmentlaw #productionlegal #businessaffairs #castandcrew #tifaniej #entertainmentlawyer #filmfinance

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🎶🎵 Ever wondered about the legalities behind your favorite tunes? Our latest blog post dives into the contracts, royalties, and copyright laws that shape the music industry. From understanding sync licensing agreements to navigating the complexities of mechanical royalties, we've got you covered. We also explore the crucial role of organizations like ASCAP, BMI, and the U.S. Copyright Office in protecting your creative work. Whether you're an artist, songwriter, producer, or just a passionate music fan, this post will equip you with the knowledge you need to navigate the legal side of sound. Read the full post here: https://lnkd.in/eJWvdpVQ #musicindustry #musiclaw #copyright #royalties #contracts #musicbusiness #musicmarketing #legaladvice #musicmakers #songwriter #artist

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“The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) has filed a lawsuit against Spotify in the United States for allegedly underpaying royalties to songwriters and publishers. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday (May 16), stems from Spotify’s decision at the beginning of March to reclassify its Premium Individual, Duo, and Family subscription streaming plans as Bundled Subscription Offerings because those plans now offer access to audiobooks. Under a 2022 legal settlement – aka Phonorecords IV – music publishers and music streaming services agreed that ‘bundle’ services in the States are permitted to pay a lower mechanical royalty rate to publishers and songwriters than standalone music subscription services. The MLC argues that by applying the rate formula applicable to Bundles to its Premium subscriptions, Spotify is underpaying royalties due to songwriters and publishers, and that Spotify’s position does not comply with the law.” #Spotify #MLC #Streaming #Songwriters #StreamingRoyalties #Royalties #MusicTracks #MusicStreams #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz #CompulsoryLicense #US #MusicPublishing #NMPA #StreamingServices #StreamingMedia #UniversalMusic #SonyMusic #UniversalMusicGroup #WarnerChappell #Audiobooks

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“What do Karol G, Justin Bieber, Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, Diplo, Jason Derulo, Anuel AA, Anitta, and Drake have in common? For one thing, they’re being accused of infringing on reggaeton itself by borrowing from “groundbreaking” decades-old releases without permission. Those allegations stem from a lengthy infringement action levied by reggae musicians themselves and the estates of different reggae professionals, who are said to have played a key role in the development of the genre as well as reggaeton. Chief among these plaintiffs is one Clevie (real name Cleveland Constantine Browne), a Jamaica-based individual who’s purportedly known for “pioneering the use of drum machines in reggae.” In the interest of relative brevity, the present complaint actually stems from three separate cases: two filed in 2021 against a total of 34 artist defendants, the third submitted in May of 2022 against 24 more defendants. The actions were consolidated in July of the same year – for a cumulative total of around 60 artist defendants and north of 1,000 allegedly infringing works. This includes the initially mentioned acts and, on top of that, all manner of companies – such as the major labels’ publishing units, Hipgnosis, Concord, and BMG, to name just a few.” #Reggaeton #Latin #LatinMusic #Reggae #Hiphop #Legal #BadBunny #JBalvin #DaddyYankee #Copyright #IP #IntelectualProperty #CopyrightInfrigement #DerechoDeAutor #DroitdAuteur #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz #Creators #KarolG #JustinBieber #LuisFonsi #BMG #Hipgnosis #Concord

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I’m thrilled to share exciting new research No Guarantees has commissioned in partnership with leading trends and generation research firm Culture Co-Op. The report explores what Gen Z and Millennials think about Broadway, examines the reasons they aren’t showing up, and suggests strategic steps the industry can take to cultivate new, engaged audiences. The research shows that Gen Z and Millennials’ lack of Broadway attendance is not due to details like a particular show’s cast, subject matter, or number of awards it has received. Instead, it’s a handful of deep misconceptions about Broadway itself, like confusion about ticket prices, the number of shows playing at any given time, access to tickets, and who Broadway is even meant for. The great news for Broadway is that while Gen Z & Millennials may not know much about individual shows or what’s happening in the theater industry, the Broadway brand remains extraordinarily strong. They are curious about us, and 91% even reported being more interested in Broadway simply by taking the survey! They’re ready to be brought into the fold. This gives all of us the ability to appeal to the existing interest of new, young audiences and develop a modern, actionable strategy to make it happen - to meet people where they really are. There’s so much to dive into so please check out the full report, which you can download at noguarantees.com. Please feel free to reach out with any questions, comments, or ideas!

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For those who want to better understand the bubbling dispute between Spotify and the community of US publishers and songwriters, this article is a great read. https://lnkd.in/g9HExGTY

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“Three US lawmakers have expressed concern over Spotify‘s recent bundling practices and its potential impact on songwriter compensation. Spotify announced in March that it would reclassify its Premium tiers as ‘bundles’ by combining music and audiobooks. In 2022, a legal agreement (Phonorecords IV) allowed music streaming services in the US to pay lower royalties to publishers and songwriters for music offered as part of bundles compared to standalone music subscriptions. In a letter addressed to Shira Perlmutter, the US Register of Copyrights, Congressmen Ted Lieu (D) and Adam Schiff (D), plus Senator Marsha Blackburn (R), raised questions about whether Spotify’s new practice is in line with the spirit of the Music Modernization Act (MMA) of 2018. “American songwriters create the music we love but have long labored under a compulsory licensing system that robs them of control over their work and the ability to receive fair compensation. Six years ago, Congress passed the Music Modernization Act (MMA) to address that problem,” they wrote in the letter dated June 12. The bipartisan group of lawmakers highlighted the long-standing challenges faced by songwriters in receiving fair compensation under the compulsory licensing system, acknowledging that the MMA is a positive step towards fairer compensation for publishers and songwriters, while expressing concern that Spotify’s actions might undermine these efforts. Their concern lies in Spotify’s “unexpected decision” to reclassify its Premium subscription tier as a bundle when offering audiobooks as a free add-on to its $10.99 monthly subscription plan.” Read the full article for more: #Spotify #Streaming #Songwriters #MusicPublishing #StreamingRoyalties #Royalties #MusicTracks #MusicStreams #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz #USA #USCongress #CRB

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Why do musicians need an attorney? A music attorney is essential for musicians due to the complexities of the music industry. They handle contract negotiations, ensuring your rights and interests are protected in deals with record labels, publishers, and other parties. Copyright issues are another critical area, where they help secure and protect your intellectual property. Music attorneys also ensure you receive the correct royalties and advise on the best ways to collect them. In disputes, they represent you in legal matters, safeguarding your career. Additionally, they assist in setting up business structures, like LLCs or corporations, for liability protection and tax benefits. Music attorneys manage licensing agreements and permissions, ensuring fair compensation for your work. Their ongoing legal advice helps you make informed decisions, navigating the industry's legal landscape with confidence. #musicattorney #musician #musicbiz #musicbusiness #legal

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Add one more major AI-related copyright infringement case to a very long docket. News/Media Alliance, Fairly Trained, The Copyright Society, Copyright Alliance https://lnkd.in/g6Cr_9CE

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“When this story is done and dusted, Spotify might ask itself, ‘When we bundled music and audiobooks to reduce the mechanical royalty rate for songwriters in the US, was it worth the hassle?��� In April, Spotify announced its controversial decision to reclassify its Premium tiers as ‘bundles’ by combining music and audiobooks. The move resulted in Spotify paying a lower mechanical royalty rate in the US to publishers and songwriters. Yet the world’s largest subscription music streaming service may not have anticipated just how fierce the opposition to its bundling decision would be from songwriters and publishers. In the words of National Music Publishers’ Association boss David Israelite, speaking at the NMPA‘s Annual Meeting in New York today (June 12): “Spotify has declared war on songwriters. Our response shall be all-encompassing”. To date, that “all-encompassing” reaction from the music publishing community has included: A legal threat sent to Spotify from the National Music Publishers Association over the service allegedly hosting unlicensed lyrics on its platform; A lawsuit launched against Spotify by the US-based Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC), which is suing SPOT for allegedly underpaying royalties to songwriters and publishers; The NMPA calling on Congress to update the copyright law in the United States to allow publishers to negotiate in a “free market” just like record labels. Today, a new headache for Spotify has emerged. At the NMPA’s Annual Meeting, David Israelite revealed that the organization has filed an official complaint against Spotify with the Federal Trade Commission for “alleged unlawful conduct by Spotify”, which the NMPA claims “is harming millions of consumers and the music marketplace”. Yes: the NMPA has filed this new FTC complaint on behalf of consumers in the United States, rather than on behalf of the trade org’s publisher members. Within the letter, obtained by MBW, and which you can read in full here, the NMPA alleges that “Spotify has deceived consumers by converting millions of its subscribers without their consent from music-only subscriptions into “bundled” audiobook-and-music subscriptions, publicly announcing increased prices for those subscriptions, failing to offer an option for subscribers to revert to a music-only subscription, and thwarting attempts to cancel through dark patterns and confusing website interfaces”. Read on: #Spotify #NMPA #Streaming #Songwriters #MusicPublishing #StreamingRoyalties #Royalties #MusicTracks #MusicStreams #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz

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This will be a great event for anyone interested in Neighboring Rights, #advocacy, #education, and leaning about this very important (and complex) #royalty stream. If you're in #LA, go! #neighboringrights #money #moneymatters IAFAR #musicindustry #business #international

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More gold from Tom Friedman

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I’ve watched this video 5+ times in the last few years, and it seems that nothing really changes. The infrastructure is still not built in 2024, and millions in royalties go to pros and CMOs in 190+ countries. Unfortunately, they can’t track back the songwriters to whom those royalties belong. The best solution we currently have is intermediary companies like Songtrust, which do their best to track all of the work back to you. However, it is still extremely slow and sometimes inaccurate. https://lnkd.in/ecjqCS8M

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