Chris Cooke - CMU | the music business explained

What next for TikTok in the US as April deadline looms on the horizon?

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TikTok • 4 min read

What next for TikTok in the US as April deadline looms on the horizon?

While the US TikTok ban was postponed for 75 days by Donald Trump, the app’s future in the country remains uncertain, despite lots of speculation about which American billionaires want to buy it. Meanwhile the UK government is now on TikTok, despite the app being banned on government devices…

Chris Cooke • 11 Feb 2025

Ozzy Osbourne sued for posting photos of himself on social media

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Ozzy Osbourne • 2 min read

Ozzy Osbourne sued for posting photos of himself on social media

Ozzy Osbourne is the latest artist to be sued for posting photos of himself on social media. The copyrights in the images are owned by the photographer, who says no permission was granted to use the photos on social platforms that are “key components” of Osbourne’s “lucrative commercial enterprise”…

Chris Cooke • 11 Feb 2025

Does the US really need so many performing rights organisations and are they doing a good enough job, asks US Copyright Office

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Collective Licensing • 3 min read

Does the US really need so many performing rights organisations and are they doing a good enough job, asks US Copyright Office

The increase in the number of collecting societies representing the performing rights of songwriters in the US is set to be considered in a new US Copyright Office inquiry. It will also review how societies distribute royalties, and whether independent writers and publishers are disadvantaged…

Chris Cooke • 10 Feb 2025

Web-blocks fail to “address the root causes of piracy”, VPN trade body tells copyright owners

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Piracy • 2 min read

Web-blocks fail to “address the root causes of piracy”, VPN trade body tells copyright owners

French broadcaster Canal+ is trying to get web-blocking orders against a number of VPNs in a bid to block football piracy sites. However, VPN operators argue that forcing web-blocking onto their networks won’t stop piracy but will undermine “digital freedom for millions of French residents”…

Chris Cooke • 10 Feb 2025

NewJeans are now NJZ, as court dates set for Ador legal battle

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NewJeans • 2 min read

NewJeans are now NJZ, as court dates set for Ador legal battle

K-pop group NewJeans have announced a rebrand as NJZ as a result of their legal dispute with former label Ador. They will start performing under the new name next month, just as legal action by Ador - which is seeking to enforce its contract with the group - arrives in court…

Chris Cooke • 07 Feb 2025

Court Of Appeal rejects Sony Music’s arguments for dismissing Jimi Hendrix Experience copyright case

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Jimi Hendrix • 3 min read

Court Of Appeal rejects Sony Music’s arguments for dismissing Jimi Hendrix Experience copyright case

In 2022, the estates of Jimi Hendrix’s bandmates in the Jimi Hendrix Experience sued Sony Music claiming their rights were being infringed. Sony has been trying to get the lawsuit dismissed, but the Court Of Appeal in London has knocked back those efforts, meaning the case will now proceed to trial…

Chris Cooke • 07 Feb 2025

Notorious BIG estate sues art print company over infringement of image “heralded” as the ‘Mona Lisa of hip hop’

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Notorious BIG • 2 min read

Notorious BIG estate sues art print company over infringement of image “heralded” as the ‘Mona Lisa of hip hop’

Notorious BIG’s estate has filed a lawsuit against iCanvas, Home Depot, Nordstrom and Target over the sale of canvas prints that featured an iconic photo of the late rapper dubbed the ‘Mona Lisa of hiphop’, which allegedly infringing the copyright in the photo and the late rapper’s publicity rights…

Chris Cooke • 06 Feb 2025

Danish High Court increases streaming fraudster’s sentence after appeal review

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Streaming Fraud • 2 min read

Danish High Court increases streaming fraudster’s sentence after appeal review

Last year a Danish music industry executive was convicted for running a streaming fraud operation that generated millions of kroner. He appealed to Denmark’s High Court, but it has not only upheld the ruling but also increased his sentence from eighteen months to two years…

Chris Cooke • 06 Feb 2025

Max Richter tells MPs that artists “must have the right to determine” how their music is used by AI

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Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

Max Richter tells MPs that artists “must have the right to determine” how their music is used by AI

Yesterday the UK Parliament put the spotlight on copyright and AI again, with Max Richter among those to speak on behalf of creators. He criticised the “erosion of copyright” being proposed by the government, which is considering introducing a new copyright exception for AI companies…

Chris Cooke • 05 Feb 2025

Spotify says publishers issuing takedowns against podcasts is a “press stunt” in response to the MLC’s bundling lawsuit being dismissed

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Spotify • 3 min read

Spotify says publishers issuing takedowns against podcasts is a “press stunt” in response to the MLC’s bundling lawsuit being dismissed

Music publishers in the US have started issuing takedown notices in relation to unlicensed music in Spotify podcasts. Spotify says the move is a “weak response” to a judge last week dismissing the music industry’s lawsuit over its use of a bundling loophole to pay less to American songwriters…

Chris Cooke • 05 Feb 2025

AIF calls for Parliamentary inquiry into a festivals sector that has lost 215 events since the pandemic

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Association Of Independent Festivals • 2 min read

AIF calls for Parliamentary inquiry into a festivals sector that has lost 215 events since the pandemic

The music festival community gathered for the Festival Congress in Bristol today. AIF used its annual event to launch a Fallow Festival Fund and to call on Parliament’s culture committee to launch an inquiry into the economic challenges that music festivals are currently facing…

Chris Cooke • 05 Feb 2025

Falling In Reverse frontman’s defamation lawsuit a “vindictive” move to silence critics, says YouTuber

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Falling In Reverse • 2 min read

Falling In Reverse frontman’s defamation lawsuit a “vindictive” move to silence critics, says YouTuber

Last year Falling In Reverse singer Ronnie Radke sued a YouTuber for defamation over a video that discussed controversies involving the musician. That YouTuber wants the lawsuit dismissed, arguing that he was reporting on known controversies, and Radke’s lawsuit is an attempt to silence his critics…

Chris Cooke • 04 Feb 2025