Copyright

ATTENTION OLDIES STATIONS (OR OTHERS WHO PLAY PRE-72 RECORDINGS): Think Twice Before You Pony Up Three Years of Royalties Under New MMA Provision

By Kevin Goldberg and Karyn K. Ablin|2019-06-10T11:00:43-05:00June 10th, 2019|Legal News|

Remember our April 4, 2019 “CALLING ALL OLDIES STATIONS!” post that alerted you to a simple form you could file to receive certain protections from potentially crippling infringement awards for unauthorized uses of sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972 (aka “pre-72 recordings”)? That post created quite a stir. In fact, we were flooded with...… Continue Reading

Webcaster Wake Up Call: The (Not Entirely) Shutdown Update

By Kevin Goldberg and Karyn K. Ablin|2019-01-24T14:17:41-06:00January 24th, 2019|Legal News|

This is the promised follow up to our December 14, 2018 post regarding the compliance obligations for 2019 under the statutory licenses found in Sections 112 and 114 of the Copyright Act (the “statutory licenses”) allowing webcasters to make public performances sound recordings via digital audio transmission and to make related temporary copies of those...… Continue Reading

Webcaster Wake Up Call!

By Kevin Goldberg and Karyn K. Ablin|2018-12-14T12:34:28-06:00December 14th, 2018|Legal News|

We usually publish our “Webcaster Wake Up Call!” post each January. This post reminds webcasting services of their compliance obligations for the upcoming year under the statutory licenses found in Sections 112 and 114 of the Copyright Act (the “statutory licenses”) allowing them to publicly perform sound recordings via digital audio transmission. Part of the...… Continue Reading

Copyright Enters the Twilight Zone (A Series of Controversial Decisions May Not Be as Bad as They Seem: Part Two)

By Kevin Goldberg|2018-08-30T12:41:33-05:00August 30th, 2018|Legal News|

If you read the first part of this two-part post on some bizarre copyright decisions emanating from federal courts in 2018, you know I left you with a cliffhanger. Copyright law was seemingly turned on its head when a federal court judge in New York declared that embedding tweets with photos could be considered direct...… Continue Reading

Copyright Enters the Twilight Zone: (A Series of Controversial Decisions May Not Be All that They Seem: Part One)

By Kevin Goldberg|2018-08-23T09:00:29-05:00August 23rd, 2018|Legal News|

[Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part episode on three copyright decisions issued by federal courts in 2018 that relate to the use of photos in news reporting; the second part will be posted next week.] Picture for a moment a man. Not an ordinary man by any stretch. This man is Tom...… Continue Reading

Webcaster Wake Up Call!

By Kevin Goldberg and Karyn K. Ablin|2018-01-24T08:43:11-06:00January 24th, 2018|Legal News|

Three weeks into 2018, we’ll confess to still writing “2017” on the occasional check. Admit it: you probably have, too (we can’t be the ONLY ones still writing checks every now and again). Webcasters complying with the statutory licenses found in Sections 112 and 114 of the Copyright Act – which permit them to webcast...… Continue Reading

Rates to Perform Musical Compositions in 2018-2022 Published for Noncommercial Broadcasters

By Karyn K. Ablin|2018-01-23T17:08:06-06:00January 23rd, 2018|Legal News|

Attention, noncommercial educational (NCE, a/k/a “public”) broadcasters! If you have been wondering how much you’ll have to pay to broadcast musical compositions this year (and beyond), wonder no more. The rates for 2018 through 2022 were published in the Federal Register on January 19. For those new to the issue, these rates have been administered...… Continue Reading

Countdown Clock Ticking on Digital Millennium Copyright Act Designated Agent Registrations

By Kevin Goldberg|2017-06-27T11:07:39-05:00June 27th, 2017|Legal News|

(Registered agent contact information must be ELECTRONICALLY filed with the Copyright Office by December 31, 2017) How much is peace of mind worth to you? Does $6.00 and less than an hour of your time sound about right? What if I told you that this alone would significantly reduce the likelihood that you will be...… Continue Reading

Webcaster Wake-Up Call! SoundExchange Reports and Payments Due Soon

By Kevin Goldberg|2016-01-25T12:21:56-06:00January 25th, 2016|Legal News|

Same as it ever was: as they start in on the next five-year period with new rates and terms announced in Webcasting IV, webcasters must again attend to annual SoundExchange homework. It’s been a month since I wrote about Webcasting IV, the decision of the Copyright Royalty Board that set webcasting rates and terms for … Continue Reading