Music industry legal news

Proposed UK copyright amendment will see US performers frozen out of equitable remuneration deal

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Intellectual Property Office • 4 min read

Proposed UK copyright amendment will see US performers frozen out of equitable remuneration deal

The government has been reviewing the rules about which foreign performers should get equitable remuneration when their recordings are broadcast or performed in the UK. There was a plan that all foreign performers should earn ER, but a compromise means some performers will still miss out…

Chris Cooke • 06 Nov 2024

Cox again urges Supreme Court to review major label dispute, to stop “innocent users” losing internet access because “a guest downloaded a couple of songs”

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Cox Communications • 3 min read

Cox again urges Supreme Court to review major label dispute, to stop “innocent users” losing internet access because “a guest downloaded a couple of songs”

Cox Communications has made another filing with the US Supreme Court, which it wants to intervene in its billion dollar legal dispute with the major record companies. Much of the submission deals with legal technicalities, but it also makes some bombastic ‘save the internet’ type statements…

Chris Cooke • 06 Nov 2024

Man arrested in Canada in relation to Ticketmaster data hack

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Ticketmaster • 2 min read

Man arrested in Canada in relation to Ticketmaster data hack

A man believed to be behind the mega-hack of Ticketmaster data earlier this year was in court in Canada yesterday having been arrested last week. The US want to extradite him in connection with multiple data breaches which also impacted companies like AT&T and Santander…

Chris Cooke • 06 Nov 2024

Universal Music claims Believe has built its business on “industrial-scale copyright infringement” and wants $500 million

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Believe • 3 min read

Universal Music claims Believe has built its business on “industrial-scale copyright infringement” and wants $500 million

Universal Music has filed a bombastic $500 million lawsuit against Believe accusing it of facilitating rampant copyright infringement by allowing fraudsters to illegally deliver tracks owned by the major to the streaming services, claiming royalties when those uploads are streamed…

Chris Cooke • 05 Nov 2024

Another court says that Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ is not a ‘Let's Get It On’ rip off

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Ed Sheeran • 3 min read

Another court says that Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ is not a ‘Let's Get It On’ rip off

Ed Sheeran has again defeated a legal claim that his hit ‘Thinking Out Loud’ rips off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’. A jury sided with Sheeran on this claim in May 2023, but a second lawsuit was filed by a company with an interest in Gaye’s song. That second lawsuit was dismissed and then appealed…

Chris Cooke • 04 Nov 2024

Internet companies say anti-piracy web-blocks “can fragment the global internet”

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Piracy • 3 min read

Internet companies say anti-piracy web-blocks “can fragment the global internet”

Web-blocking is an anti-piracy tactic of choice for the music industry with music companies now seeking web-blocks against DNS resolvers as well as ISPs. This move has been criticised by a group of internet companies in a submission to the US government, which say it “fragments the global internet”…

Chris Cooke • 31 Oct 2024

Megan Thee Stallion sues YouTuber over false statements, malicious content and deepfake pornography

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Megan Thee Stallion • 2 min read

Megan Thee Stallion sues YouTuber over false statements, malicious content and deepfake pornography

A lawsuit has been filed in Florida against YouTuber Milagro Gramz, who is accused of publishing false statements about, and promoting deepfake pornography depicting, Megan Thee Stallion. It’s claimed Gramz is a “mouthpiece and puppet” of Tory Lanez, the rapper jailed for shooting at Megan in 2020…

Chris Cooke • 31 Oct 2024

Adidas draws line under Kanye dispute with “no money going either way”

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Kanye West • 1 min read

Adidas draws line under Kanye dispute with “no money going either way”

A two year legal dispute between Adidas and Kanye West has come to an end. The sportswear brand canceled its incredibly profitable partnership with West in 2022 in response to his anti semitic rants. There has been legal wrangling ever since, but Adidas’s CEO says a settlement has now been reached…

Chris Cooke • 30 Oct 2024

Court rejects Min Hee-jin’s attempt to get Ador top job back, as HYBE boss forced to apologise for dissing rivals

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Hybe • 3 min read

Court rejects Min Hee-jin’s attempt to get Ador top job back, as HYBE boss forced to apologise for dissing rivals

HYBE is hoping it can put its dispute with Ador founder Min Hee-jin behind it after a court dismissed an injunction as part of her bid to be reinstated as CEO. But that seems unlikely. Meanwhile an internal HYBE document that is disparaging of rival agencies’ artists is causing controversy…

Chris Cooke • 30 Oct 2024

Music industry warns of AI “malpractices” on an industrial scale, says EU AI Act must “be made meaningful” to safeguard creatives

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Artificial Intelligence • 2 min read

Music industry warns of AI “malpractices” on an industrial scale, says EU AI Act must “be made meaningful” to safeguard creatives

The EU AI Act was welcomed by the music industry earlier this year because of what it says about copyright and transparency. But how useful the act is will depend on how it is implemented. To that end, the music industry has called on EU lawmakers to ensure the new rules are “made meaningful”…

Chris Cooke • 30 Oct 2024

Hollywood studios say AI training opt-out critical, Singapore must clarify copyright rules

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Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

Hollywood studios say AI training opt-out critical, Singapore must clarify copyright rules

The US Motion Picture Association has made a submission to a US government consultation on foreign trade barriers. It asks the government to put pressure on countries that have or want copyright exceptions for AI training, insisting copyright owners must always have an opt out…

Chris Cooke • 28 Oct 2024

Diddy lawyers say gagging order should restrict any government investigator with access to the case files

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Diddy • 2 min read

Diddy lawyers say gagging order should restrict any government investigator with access to the case files

Diddy’s legal team have written another letter to the court about the gagging order they want issued restricting what anyone involved in the criminal case against the musician can say in public. There is currently a disagreement with prosecutors over who the gagging order should apply to…

Chris Cooke • 24 Oct 2024

Music industry legal news coverage