Copyright Office Commences an Inquiry into the Proliferation of Performing Rights Organizations – Looking at the Complexity of Licensing Musical Works in the United States

By |2025-02-13T11:23:28-06:00February 13th, 2025|Legal News|

In the United States, performing rights in musical compositions (or “musical works” as the Copyright Act refers to them – the words and music of a song) are generally licensed by a “performing rights organization” or a “PRO.”  The U.S., unlike most countries where there is a single organization that collects these royalites, has multiple... Continue Reading…

DOJ Ends its Review of ASCAP and BMI Consent Decrees – For Now…What Does it Mean?

By |2021-01-20T11:08:42-06:00January 20th, 2021|Legal News|

In 2019, the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice began a review of the court-administered antitrust consent decrees that have bound ASCAP and BMI since the 1940s.  We wrote about the issues in their review here.  The formal review of these decrees began as part of the DOJ’s broader review of its antitrust... Continue Reading…

DOJ Ends its Review of ASCAP and BMI Consent Decrees – For Now…What Does it Mean?

By |2021-01-20T11:08:42-06:00January 20th, 2021|Legal News|

In 2019, the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice began a review of the court-administered antitrust consent decrees that have bound ASCAP and BMI since the 1940s.  We wrote about the issues in their review here.  The formal review of these decrees began as part of the DOJ’s broader review of its antitrust... Continue Reading…

DOJ Starts Review of BMI and ASCAP Consent Decrees – Exploring the Background of the Issues

By |2019-06-06T09:54:34-05:00June 6th, 2019|Legal News|

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division yesterday announced that it was starting a review of the ASCAP and BMI antitrust consent decrees that govern the United States’ two largest performing rights organizations for musical compositions (referred to as the “musical work”). The DOJ’s announcement of the initiation of the examination of the consent decrees poses...… Continue Reading

Go to Top