Category: Press Releases

Press Release: @UMG and @TIDAL Partner to Work on Artist-Centric Royalties

New York, January 31, 2023 – TIDAL, the global music and entertainment platform, and Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, today announced that the two companies will work together to explore an innovative new economic model for music streaming that might better reward the value provided by artists and more closely reflect the engagement of TIDAL subscribers with those artists and music they love.

Streaming has revolutionized music, catalyzed industry growth, transformed the entertainment experience and provided incredible opportunities for engagement, to the benefit of artists and fans alike. As it has gained mass adoption over the past decade, there is more desire from all parties to look at how to best economically align fans’ interests with those of their favorite artists.

TIDAL and UMG will research how, by harnessing fan engagement, digital music services and platforms can generate greater commercial value for every type of artist. The research will extend to how different economic models could accelerate subscriber growth, deepen retention, and better monetize fandom to the benefit of artists and the broader music community.

“From day one, TIDAL has stood out as artist-first, leading with a premium subscription tier to pay artists more and experimenting with new ideas like fan-centered royalties to see if there are fairer and more equitable ways to get artists paid,” said TIDAL Lead Jesse Dorogusker. “We are setting aside our current fan-centered royalties investigation to focus on this opportunity for more impact. We’re thrilled to partner and learn along the way about the possibilities for more innovative streaming economics. This partnership will enable us to rethink how we can sustainably improve royalties’ distribution for the breadth of artists on our platform.”

“As the digital landscape continues to evolve, it’s become increasingly clear that music streaming’s economic model needs innovation to ensure a vibrant and sustainable future,” said Michael Nash, UMG’s Executive Vice President, Chief Digital Officer. “Tidal’s embrace of this transformational opportunity is especially exciting because the music ecosystem can work better – for every type of artist and fan – but only through dedicated, thoughtful collaboration. Built on deeply held, shared principles about the value of artistry and the importance of the artist-fan relationship, this strategic initiative will explore how to enhance and advance the model in keeping with our collective objectives.”

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For more information contact:

TIDAL: Sade Ayodele, Head of Communications – sayodele@tidal.com

Universal Music Group, Global Communications: James Murtagh-Hopkins  james.murtagh-hopkins@umusic.com

Read the press release

Press Release: Copyright Alliance Statement on Maryland Court Granting Preliminary Injunction to Publishers in eBook Licensing Case

Washington, DC—February 17, 2022—Today, the Copyright Alliance released the following statement in response to the news that the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ruled in favor of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), granting a preliminary injunction that suspends the eBook licensing law at the center of the AAP v. Brian Frosh case:

According to Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid, “We are thrilled to learn of the Maryland court’s decision in granting a preliminary injunction in the case involving AAP challenging the state’s unconstitutional eBook licensing mandate, and in concluding that AAP has clearly satisfied the four preliminary injunction factors. We have believed all along that the eBook legislation would be preempted and that the court would reach the right decision, as it has clearly done. 

“The bill would have forced publishers to license their eBooks to libraries on terms that are determined by the state of Maryland (not by publishers). The court explicitly recognized that this sort of forced transaction between publishers and libraries would effectively strip publishers of their exclusive right under the Copyright Act to decide whether, when, and to whom to distribute their copyrighted works.

The court also made clear that forcing publishers to offer licenses for electronic literary products on terms that would enable public libraries to provide library users with access to the electronic literary product will not necessarily increase access to those products for library users over time, and that it is only through the protection of copyright law that books and other creative works may be generated and distributed at all.“In its decision, the court recognized that, ‘The economic philosophy behind the [Copyright] [C]lause…is the conviction that encouragement of individual effort by personal gain is the best way to advance public welfare through the talents of authors and inventors’ and that ‘[C]opyright law serves public ends by providing individuals with an incentive to pursue private ones.’ We agree with the court’s decision and offer our thanks for it coming to the right conclusion.”
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ABOUT THE COPYRIGHT ALLIANCEThe Copyright Alliance is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest and educational organization representing the copyright interests of over 1.8 million individual creators and over 13,000 organizations in the United States, across the spectrum of copyright disciplines. The Copyright Alliance is dedicated to advocating policies that promote and preserve the value of copyright, and to protecting the rights of creators and innovators. For more information, please visit https://copyrightalliance.org.

Press Release: Copyright Alliance Hosts Two April Panels to Celebrate World IP Day/Week 2021

The Copyright Alliance will celebrate World IP Day/Week 2021 from April 26–30. World IP Day is recognized on the same day in April of each year to remind everyone of the critical role that intellectual property plays in encouraging creativity and innovation. During the week of April 26–30, the Copyright Alliance will join our members, partners and countless creators and organizations around the world to mark the occasion by sharing blogs and videos, hosting virtual events, and much more—all designed to celebrate the fact that IP helps the global arts scene to flourish and enables the innovation that drives human progress. The 2021 WIPD theme, as determined by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is IP & SMEs: Taking Your Ideas to Market. 

According to WIPO, “Every business starts with an idea. Each of the millions of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that operate across the globe every day started with an idea that took shape in someone’s mind and made its way to market.”  The World IP Day panels planned by the Copyright Alliance are as follows: 

Creative Enterprises: Small Business, BIG Impact; April 27 at 1 p.m. ET: In keeping with this year’s World IP Day theme, IP & SMEs: Taking Your Ideas to Market, the Copyright Alliance is pleased to host a panel discussion featuring a variety of creators and advocates on what it takes to grow and monetize a creative business, the challenges faced running a business during the pandemic, how intellectual property helps to fuel the creative and business processes, and much more! Panel participants include: Janet Hicks, VP, Director of Licensing, Artists Rights Society; Ryan Edwards, Creator and Owner, MASARY Studios; Kick Lee, Founder and Director, Cincinnati Music Accelerator; Rachel Lackey, Creator and Owner, Green Pea Press; Danielle Van Lier, Assistant General Counsel, SAG-AFTRA (moderator). Follow our Facebook page for updates on the panel, as well as to attend the event at 1 p.m. ET on April 27. 

Small Enterprises Making a BIG Difference: Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts; April 28 at 1 p.m. ET: The Copyright Alliance is pleased to host a second panel discussion featuring representatives from Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) groups across the country, including The Ella Project (New Orleans), VolunteerLawyers and Accountants for the Arts (St. Louis), Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts New York, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, California Lawyers for the Arts, Arts and Business Council Nashville, Arts and Business Council Boston, Springboard for the Arts (Minnesota), Colorado Attorneys for the Arts, and Lawyers for the Creative Arts (Chicago). The panel will focus on how VLA groups support creators and their businesses by providing copyright information to help ensure their rights and fuel their growth. Follow our Facebook page for updates on the panel, as well as to attend the event at 1 p.m. ET on April 28.


In honor of WIPD 2021, Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid shared the following message with the creative and copyright communities, one that speaks to the history of copyright law and intellectual property protections, as well as articulates their continued importance today:  

It’s a well-known principle that copyright and intellectual property protections benefit society by incentivizing creativity and innovation. And at a time when the U.S. economy and economies around the globe are experiencing unprecedented hardships, including recovering from the perils of a global pandemic, we need strong and vibrant copyright law now more than ever. In the spirit of celebrating World IP Day 2021, I’m pleased that our 2021 panel events will highlight numerous creators who were able to continue developing their arts and their businesses during 2020 despite unprecedented hurdles. We will also highlight Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts Groups (VLAs) around the country, organizations that work as strong advocates for creators and copyright protections day in and day out. I, along with the entire Copyright Alliance team, wish you all the best for a Happy World IP Day, and a very successful year ahead! – Keith Kupferschmid, CEO, Copyright Alliance 

For World IP Day blogs, video messages from elected officials, and much more, visit the Copyright Alliance World IP Day 2021 webpage.