![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||
NOTE: Make sure you 'enable images' to see this e-bulletin properly. WHAT IS THIS? You are receiving this e-bulletin because you are subscribed to the CMU Daily. Unsubscribe information is given at the bottom of this e-bulletin. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||
INTERNSHIP AT UNLIMITED MEDIA To apply send a CV and a short note telling us what you'd like to get out of an internship to [email protected]. |
||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() INTRODUCING LEYLINE PUBLICITY -- DESK SPACE AVAILABLE Rent is £250 per month per desk and includes service charges. Please drop me a line if you're interested to find out more - [email protected] - Pictures are available. -- ADVERTISE WITH CMU - classifieds £120 per week, job ads £100 per week, banner ads £150 per week, leader box £200 per week - call 020 7099 9050 or email [email protected] for information or to book. |
||||||||||||||||||||||
SEVEN GRAND SETTLEMENT TO STUPID SANTANGELO SAGA One of the longest running and highest profile P2P lawsuits pursued by the good old Recording Industry Association Of America has reached its conclusion. With an out of court settlement of seven grand - a sum that will barely cover the trade body's lawyer's lunch expenses. It's the Santangelo case. As much previously reported, the RIAA sued Patricia Santangelo in 2005 after discovering that unlicensed music had been uploaded to a file-sharing network via her computer. Although offered the customary four grand out-of-court settlement option, Santangelo, who struggled even turning on her family computer, let alone using it to access and share music files, defended herself in court, despite the cost of doing so (and on occasion without legal representation, because she couldn't afford it). It seemed likely that it was Santangelo's two children, Michelle and Robert, who did the file sharing via the internet connection registered in their mother's name, though at one time a friend of the children was blamed. It was an interesting test case because the RIAA tried to say that Patricia should be held liable for the actions of her children on her internet connection - Michelle and Robert were both under 18 at the point the alleged file-sharing took place - but the courts didn't respond favourably to that viewpoint and eventually the RIAA was forced to dismiss its lawsuit. It was an embarrassing stand down for the RIAA who were trying to convince the world that its infringement claims against suspected file-sharers were incredibly straight forward, and that they - the content owners - should always have the benefit of the doubt. Having dismissed the case against Patricia Santangelo, and presumably keen to win this one whatever the cost, the RIAA began proceedings against Michelle and Robert. The former failed to respond to the lawsuit against her, and so a judge found in the RIAA's favour by default and ordered her to pay $30K in damages. It was a short lived victory for the trade body in relation to the Santangelo saga though, because an appeal judge subsequently voided the decision, saying he was uneasy with this kind of case being ruled upon by a default judgement, preferring cases like this to be decided on their merits. Robert Santangelo, meanwhile, defended the action launched against him. His defence claim was lengthy and not entirely convincing legally speaking (a lot of the defence claims used had been unsuccessful elsewhere), though it meant the whole costly and embarrassing Santangelo saga continued for the record company reps. Good news for their lawyers, less good for the labels. Anyway, to now, and following a testimony by a friend of Robert's to the effect that the defendant used Kazaa on an "almost daily" basis to access illegal sources of music, and a deposition by Michelle in which she admitted to accessing music via P2P, a settlement has finally been reached. For seven grand. OK, more than the original out-of-court settlement offered to Patricia back in 2005, but given the cost, both financial and in PR terms, of the endless legal battles since the original lawsuit was filed, the RIAA, nor the record companies they represent, are hardly the winners here. Especially as the family's attorney has told the Associated Press that the two children haven't even admitted wrongdoing as part of the settlement, choosing to pay up simply to draw a line and put the whole thing behind them. There seems little doubt that many hundreds of unlicensed tracks were downloaded and possibly uploaded by the Santangelo children, and, despite claims used in Robert's defence, such action has generally been deemed illegal under US copyright law in various American courts. But that's not really the point. What the Santangelo case proves is that the policy of suing thousands of individual music fans for file-sharing was dumb. It was never going to work as a deterrent, and the damages that could be raised would never cover the costs of running the litigation. Moreover it made the major record companies - in the US and elsewhere (even in the UK where lawsuits against fans were incredibly few and far between) - seem like a bunch of money grabbing litigious cunts who didn't deserve public or political support in their bid to find a business model and copyright system that works in the digital domain. Even the judiciary, while normally ultimately ruling in the record labels' favour on issues of copyright law, often held the litigious record companies in contempt. As shown from my favourite quote to come out of the Santangelo case, delivered by a judge in response to an RIAA lawyer who argued that Patricia, at that point unable to afford a lawyer, should instead make a deal with the record companies via the call centre the trade body had set up to deal with its litigation campaign. The judge hit back thus: "Not once you've filed an action in my court. You file an action in my court, your call centre is out of it. They have nothing to do with anything. You're taking up my time and cluttering up my calendar, so you will do it in the context of the court. And if your people want things to be done through the call centre, tell them not to bring lawsuits". The RIAA have, of course, now brought to an end their music-fan-litigation programme, though they are proceeding with outstanding cases, one of which - the previously reported and high profile Tennenbaum case - is sure to make them look even more like a bunch of money grabbing bastards in PR terms, however good their legal case may be. So what can record label chiefs learn about the whole Santangelo saga now it's at an end? Well, first, be suspicious when lawyers suggest litigation solutions to business problems. Second, don't pretend complex legal matters are simple, or that vague laws definitely go in your favour, you'll look stupid when the complexities come up in court. Third, where possible try and avoid suing web-illiterate mothers and teenage music fans. And fourth, remember both business models and copyright systems need reforming from time to time. You'll be able to rework the former better if you're not wasting time and money suing your customers. And you'll have more success lobbying for changes in the latter if the world at large don't think you're a bunch of money grabbing bastards. And fifth, when CMU tells you something you're doing is stupid take note. Scientific research has proven we're always right. -------------------------------------------------- PIRATE BAY FUNDER CALLS FOR RETRIAL OVER JUDGE'S ALLEGED BIAS As previously reported, Swedish media revealed last week, just a few days after The Pirate Bay Four were given a year in jail for their role in enabling mass infringement via their search engine service, that Judge Tomas Norstrom was a member of The Swedish Association for Copyright and the Swedish Association For The Protection Of Industrial Property. One of which also counts various lawyers associated with the prosecution as members. Norstrom maintains his involvement with those bodies did not influence his ruling, though some commentators reckon that - even if that is true - he should never have accepted the case because the accusations of bias were inevitable. All four defendants, so that's Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm as well as Lundstrom, have already lodged appeals against their convictions, but Lundstrom's lawyer Per Samuelson yesterday filed new legal papers calling for a complete retrial based on the bias allegations against Norstrom. According to Reuters, Samuelson's legal submission said: "Tomas Norstrom was biased during the trial [and] he neglected to inform the defendants and their lawyers of the facts that constituted the bias". The Swedish Court Of Appeal will now consider both the appeal and retrial applications made by Samuelson and the other defendants' lawyers, and decide whether to hear an appeal themselves, or send the case back to the District Court for a retrial under a new judge. The latter would be more embarrassing for prosecutors and content owners, and would presumably set aside the original judge's sentence pending the retrial. -------------------------------------------------- ASA SAY IGGY INSURANCE ADS MISLEADING As previously reported, shortly after the ads started to air there were media reports of musicians who applied for insurance from the company only to be knocked back because of their profession. Musicians, you see, smash up too many hotel rooms to be worth insuring. The insurer has since introduced a package for musicians, but when the ad campaign began they did not offer such a product. Following twelve complaints, possibly from musicians who had been knocked back by the insurer, the ASA investigated and ruled yesterday that the advert would lead "some viewers to believe the policy covered those who worked in entertainment, when it did not". Pop, the Authority confirmed, is not himself insured by the AXA Group owned online insurer. The ruling is perhaps a little too late given that, as we said, and presumably because of the negative coverage that followed the launch of the Pop campaign, Swiftcover have now introduced a package for music types. Something which, it says, few of its competitors currently offer. A spokesman for the insurer added that their choice of Iggy Pop for the campaign wasn't influenced by his rock star status, but more his reputation for having a "fast-living lifestyle". The company claims that it's online service provides faster insurance cover than that offered by traditional insurers. -------------------------------------------------- BBC PULLS KERSHAW INTERVIEW As previously reported, Kershaw was jailed for three months for breaching a restraining order barring him from contacting his former partner, Juliette Banner in January last year. He served 44 days of his sentence, but was then arrested again three days after his release for another breach, at which point he was given a six month suspended sentence and advised to leave his home on the Isle Of Man. He returned to Rochdale to live with his mother, but went on the run after a further breach resulted in a warrant for his arrest being issued in September. He was arrested again in December after returning to the Isle Of Man and given a second six month suspended sentence. In a statement, the BBC said: "The aim of the programme was to explore the events leading to Kershaw's breakdown and his subsequent efforts to recover, whilst providing the other parties involved with an appropriate degree of privacy. This, however, did not prove possible. The programme was recorded and edited very close to the day of broadcast, hence the lateness of the decision to cancel". It added that Kershaw's "behaviour throughout the interview was in no way an issue and had nothing to do with the decision to pull the programme". Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer also spoke about the decision, via the official Radio 4 blog. He wrote: "We were mindful of the background and, in particular, the strained domestic circumstances surrounding the break-up of Andy Kershaw's long-term relationship and the legal order, the result of which makes it very difficult for him to have significant access to his children". back to top SPANISH HIP HOP GROUP CANCEL LONDON GIG AFTER CUBAN MEMBERS REFUSED VISAS Ojos de Brujo were due to play the Roundhouse on Monday, ahead of two other UK gigs later this week. The show was cancelled at the last minute when the UK consulate in Madrid confirmed it would not issue visas for Carlitos Sarduy (trumpet, keyboard) and Enrique Ferrer (drummer). The band's reps are still pushing for visas in a bid to get the two Cubans to booked shows in Liverpool and Edinburgh later this week, though the nine piece combo say they will play stripped down shows in those cities if their two bandmates are still refused admission into the country. It's not clear why Sarduy and Ferrer were refused admission, because the group have toured widely in recent years, and played in numerous European countries. The visa application was filed a month ago, and the band says that their UK agent has brought many Cuban performers into the country previously without any problems. The group's manager, Jemima Cano, told Billboard: "This is a terrible hassle. London is really important for us, it's the music capital of Europe. Apparently, the consulate was not happy with the sponsorship certificate, which requires a letter of invitation from the promoter [in London]. They [also] refused to accept that Enrique and Carlitos had enough money for the visit - it's absurd, we [the band's management] were going to pay everything. Enrique and Carlitos are legal residents in Spain, but with Cuban passports. The problem in this case is that they are Cubans, and we know how many people in the West view that". MORE BRITNEY RESTRAINING ORDERS ISSUED Legal reps for both Osama Lutfi and Jon Eardley argued that neither man posed any actual threat to Britney, and that their previous actions were not sufficient for the instigation of a restraining order. However, the judge, having heard a testimony by Spears' father and conservator Jamie, issued the restraining orders anyway. Lutfi, who the Spears family accuse of drugging Britney in order to control her life (this was during her particularly loopy stage), has vowed to appeal. As previously reported, Eardley questioned why Spears, currently on tour, wasn't deemed fit enough to give testimony in court if she's fit enough to wobble around on stage. The judge, however, said it wasn't necessary for her to testify. As also previously reported, a third restraining order against another man involved in that loopy stage of Spears life, ex-boyfriend and paparazzo Adnan Ghalib, has already been issued, though he did run over the man who tried to hand it to him, so I'm not sure he's necessarily read it. -------------------------------------------------- LIL WAYNE LAUNCHES LAWSUIT OVER LAWSUIT As previously reported, Wayne and his record label have been sued by folk singer Karma-Ann Swanepoel who claims the hip hop star used a sample of his song 'Once' in one of Wayne's 'mix-tape tracks', 'I Feel Like Dying', without getting his permission. The legal squabble is complicated because 'I Feel Like Dying' wasn't actually properly released. Rather, it was performed by Wayne at live shows and given away as a free download while the rapper was promoting his album 'Tha Carter III'. The performance and free distribution of the song amounts to infringement in itself, but assuming infringement was proven it would be harder to assess damages because the infringing track didn't itself generate any income. However, Swanepoel's publishers argue it was used to promote sales of Wayne's chart topping 2008 album, and that damages should be calculated according to the revenues generated by the album, which were substantial. To that end the publishers, Urband & Lazar Music Publishing, recently won a court order forcing Wayne's people to hand over financial information in relation to 'Tha Carter III'. Anyway, presumably Wayne's people now accept the 'Once' sample was used without permission, and are worried about any claim Swanepoel may make over 'Tha Carter III' profits, because they are suing the people who produced the mix-tape track, claiming it was their responsibility to clear any samples. The producers, and defendants in the new lawsuit, are Rebel Rock Productions Inc. Interestingly, they are yet to respond to the lawsuit and media reports say their listed phone number is no longer working. Whether Wayne et al can avoid liability in the Swanepoel lawsuit by blaming Rebel Rock, who may or may not still be trading, remains to be seen. FRANZ FERDINAND GUITARIST HURTS HIS FOOT The causes of the injury are not known, but the guitarist says he's relieving the pain by employing a trick he picked up when growing up in Germany. McCarthy: "I'm sitting around all day with my foot over my heart, which will get the swelling down, they tell me. This is the old Austrian tradition of the Kneipp Kur, which I learned back in my childhood in the Bavarian Alps. Who'd have known it would ever come in handy?" He's not just sitting round though - the band have posted a video of him hobbling round the American countryside set to Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman's 'Time To Say Goodbye'. You can check it here: www.franzferdinand.co.uk/diary_nick/index.php COCKER BACKS CONSERVATIVES Speaking to Q, the former Pulp frontman said: "I think [Gordon Brown's] behaviour just makes a mockery of the whole system. A Conservative government is necessary. There is no credible alternative. You can sense an era passing". WANNADIES WANNA SPLIT Now, according to Teletext's Planet Sound, the band have decided to officially call it a day, with frontman Pär Wiksten abandoning performing altogether and becoming a songwriter. A 20 track best of album is apparently being prepared for release as we speak. BMG SIGN BEANZ Beanz has worked with the likes of Jamie Foxx, Britney Spears, Jennifer Hudson, Craig David, Nelly Furtado, Shakira, Ashlee Simpson, Lemar and Leona Lewis, is is currently signed to Timbaland Productions. Confirming the deal, the UK boss of BMG Rights Management, Tony Moss, told reporters "This represents a great start for us and I'm sure that we'll have a fruitful cooperation adding to his success". BMG Rights Management works more like a music publishing company, in that it aims to represent and exploit the rights of artists on its rosters without actually releasing any music itself, though it aims to work in all sorts of music related (and may be even non-music related) copyrights, both licensing content to media and advertisers, and forging alliances with other music firms when necessary to enable recording-based ventures. ![]() LE SAC VS PIP VS RASCAL FAITH NO MORE ANNOUNCE BIG GREATEST HITS ALBUM Disc 1: The Real Thing Disc 2: Absolute Zero (b-side on Digging The Grave single 1995) ![]() THE VIEW TO PLAY VENUE BENEFIT -------------------------------------------------- LADYHAWKE ANNOUNCES UK TOUR 15 May: Glasgow, Oran GREEN MAN FESTIVAL, Glansurk Park, Brecon Beacons, Wales, 21-23 Aug: Jarvis Cocker has been confirmed as the final headliner this summer's Green Man festival. Noah And The Whale, Emmy The Great, Blue Roses, Broken Records and Dent May And His Magnificent Ukulele are also set to perform. www.thegreenmanfestival.co.uk READING AND LEEDS, Little Johns Farm, Reading, Branham Park, Leeds, 28-30 Aug: Billy Talent and Anti-Flag are among the latest acts announced for the Reading and Leeds festivals, along with Alexisonfire, Bouncing Souls, Leftover Crack and The Aggrolites. Streetlight Manifesto, Fake Problems, The Ghost Of A Thousand, Riverboat Gamblers and The Plight have also been added to the bill. www.readingfestival.com, www.leedsfestival.com AUSTIN CITY LIMITS FESTIVAL, Zilker Park, Austin, Texas, 2-4 Oct: Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys and Dave Matthews Band have been confirmed as headliners for this year's Austin City Limits festival. They join previously confirmed Sonic Youth, Kings Of Leon and Lily Allen. www.aclfestival.com ALBUM REVIEW: The Maccabees - Wall Of Arms (Fiction) Buy from iTunes EMI APPOINT NEW GLOBAL HR CHIEF -------------------------------------------------- BEST BUY REINTRODUCE VINYL TO THEIR STORES IS TWITTER JUST A PASSING FAD? Based, I think, on US Twitter usage, Neilsen Wire reports that "currently, more than 60 percent of Twitter users fail to return the following month, or in other words, Twitter's audience retention rate, or the percentage of a given month's users who come back the following month, is currently about 40 percent. For most of the past 12 months, pre-Oprah, Twitter has languished below 30 percent retention". So quick people - sign up and enjoy the CMU Twitter feed now before the whole phenomenon becomes yesterday's jam. www.twitter.com/cmu OFCOM CHIEF CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE RETHINK OF LOCAL NEWS PROVISION OfCom's Ed Richards accepted that ITV could no longer be expected to fund such news programming at a local media conference yesterday, saying that government and the media industry needed to find a new way to fund and provide local news provision over and above that already offered by the BBC. His preferred option is the creation of 'local media consortia' involving various local media owners, and possibly in part funded, at launch at least, by government money, possibly the surplus of the BBC's digital switch over fund. To be honest, I don't completely understand what he's proposing, but the main message yesterday was that ITV local news as it currently stands won't be around much longer so a new system for providing local news needs to be found pretty quickly. Personally I'm not sure why, if the BBC is providing local TV news, it's really that necessary for any commercial media to offer similar competing services if it aint commercially viable to do so. Surely the provision of programmes that are important socially but not provided commercially is the very reason the Beeb exists? -------------------------------------------------- BROADCASTING UNIONS PROPOSE PUBLIC SERVICE LEVY ON SATELLITE, CABLE AND WEB TV PROVIDERS The proposal comes in a report from the Institute For Public Policy Research commissioned by the two unions. It notes that similar systems exist elsewhere in Europe, and that both Sky and Virgin benefit from others' investment in public service broadcasting (because they provide BBC, ITV and Channel 4 programmes on their networks) but don't currently contribute to the cost of making such programmes. It concludes: "Levies continue to present a possible solution to bridging the funding gap in order to maintain current levels of public service broadcasting". Commenting on the proposals, NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear told reporters: "All the plans we've seen so far suggest ways of spreading diminishing resources more thinly. Now the government has detailed evidence that shows new funding could be found - all it needs is the political will to get behind public service broadcasting. We suspect that companies will vehemently resist these proposals but sometimes what's good for the public has to come first". Yeah, assuming Sky and Virgin did vehemently resist these proposals, that would require the government to take on Rupert Murdoch and Richard Branson. This proposal won't happen. MTV2/MYSPACE CHART 1. [1] Elliot Minor - Discover Meanwhile, added to the list for viewer voting this week are... Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers More at www.myspace.com/mtvtwo PETE WENTZ MURDER FEARS He told Now Magazine: "I used to think that some day I'd end up murdering a close friend or relative. Now it's reversed and I'm convinced it's going to happen to me. That's the way I'm going out, I'm completely sure of it. So I refuse to answer the front door - it greatly minimises that risk". |
||||||||||||||||||||||
SUBSCRIPTIONS>> CMU Daily is a free daily e-bulletin for people working in the music industry and music media, delivered direct to your PC each morning. If you want to stop receiving this e-bulletin click the 'unsubscribe' button below and follow the instructions. If any of your colleagues want to receive the CMU Daily tell them to email their name, company, job title and email to [email protected]. If you would like to recieve the CMU Daily as a text email, send a blank email from the email address you are registered at to [email protected]. MEDIA PEOPLE>> If you are looking for an independent quote on anything to do with the music business, or you need someone to come on your TV or radio show and talk music business, then we can help. There's nothing we don't know about. Email requests to [email protected] or call 020 7099 9050. CMU is published by and (c) UnLimited Media - www.unlimitedmedia.co.uk Send news stories to [email protected]. If we don't respond directly, we do apologise, only we get sent hundreds of emails a day and don't have time to respond to every one of them. However we do check every email sent to the musicnews email address, and do pull out stories that we feel are relevant to our readers. Send CDs for review to CMU, UnLimited Media, 221-222 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6PJ. |
||||||||||||||||||||||