When you devalue music, music is devalued. @epidemicsound have been devaluing music as a part of their business model by taking the creator out of the value chain and they are now realising the cost. Perpetuating the idea of 'free' music is not of benefit to anyone in the sector
— Screen Composers Guild of Ireland (@screencomposer2) July 22, 2022
Tag: Helienne Lindvall
Series 3 of the @ArtistRights Watch Podcast is here! Nik Patel, @DavidCLowery, @MusicTechPolicy and @KCEsq Discuss The Future of Frozen Mechanicals
Series 3 of The Artist Rights Watch Podcast is here! Nik, David, and Chris are joined by attorney Kevin Casini to talk about the latest with the Copyright Royalty Board and mechanical rates in the Phonorecords IV proceeding.
Check out the podcast here!! Available on all platforms!
ARW Podcast S3E1: Unfreezing Mechanicals show notes
On the this episode of the Artist Rights Watch, Nik, David, and Chris sit down to talk about the recent developments with the CRB and mechanicals with lawyer and advocate, Kevin Casini. The Copyright Royalty Board who herein will more than likely be referred to as the CRB, ‘is a US system of three copyright reality judges who determines rates and terms for copyright statutory licenses and make determinations on distribution of statutory license royalties collected by the US Copyright Office.’ The US mechanical royalties are determined by the CRB and they meet every 5 years to determine the rate. Songwriter groups argued for a higher rate, and the CRB agreed. On March 29, 2022 the CRB agreed to unfreeze the $0.091 mechanical royalty rate which would commence a fight for a new rate in the 2023-2027 period. Over the past few years, there has been numerous criticisms about the constant rule for freezing the mechanical royalty rate. The royalty rate currently is $0.091 which was set back in 2006, and frankly, songwriters are making less money due to economic inflation.
Show Notes and Background Materials
Copyright Royalty Board’s Rejection of NMPA, NSAI, Sony, Warner, Universal settlement
Survey Results from Songwriter Survey on Frozen Mechanicals
Selected Frozen Mechanicals Comments:
Helienne Lindvall, David Lowery, Blake Morgan
Abby North, Erin McAnally, Chelsea Crowell
NMPA, NSAI, Sony, Warner, Universal Comment with Copy of MOU4
Below are some links about Guest Kevin Casini:
Below are some links for further reading:
https://variety.com/2022/music/news/copyright-royalty-board-crb-rate-1235219872/
https://variety.com/2022/music/news/songwriters-win-copyright-royalty-board-mechanical-royalties-1235259518/
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/record-labels-and-publishers-ink-major-settlement-moving-from-9-1-cents-to-12-cents-per-track-for-us-mechanical-royalties-on-physical-sales1/
Below are our social links and terms of use:
Chris: http://www.christiancastle.com/chris-castle
David: https://twitter.com/davidclowery?s=20
https://www.instagram.com/davidclowery/
Nik: https://www.instagram.com/nikpatelmusic/
Website: https://artistrightswatch.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistrightswatch
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtistRights?s=20
Terms of Use: https://artistrightswatchdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/arw-podcast-terms-of-use-v-1-i-1.pdf
Intro/Outro song: “All My Years” by Nik Patel
Save the Date! April 2 for the return of @DavidCLowery’s Artist Rights Symposium II at University of Georgia at Athens @TerryCollege–Virtual!
April 2 panel will be “Kafka Meets the Accountants: Metadata, Licensing and Money” Panelists are:
Dr. David C. Lowery, moderating
Helienne Lindvall of Ivors Academy
Ali Lieberman of SoundExchange
Michelle Lewis of SONA
Chris Castle and
Keith Bernstein of Crunch Digital
Details to follow!
Reading
David Lowery, Simplify Registration and Costs for the MLC
Chris Castle, MLC Metadata Showdown: What’s in a Name? Your money.
Abby North, Ex Parte Letter to Copyright Office On MLC Metadata Format
Charles Sanders, Comments of Songwriters Guild of America on Proposed MMA Rulemaking
We’re All in it Together: @USSupreme_Court Friend of Court Brief in Google v. Oracle by @helienne, @davidclowery, @theblakemorgan and @SGAWrites
[Editor Charlie sez: The Oracle v. Google case is going to be the most important copyright case in a very, very long time. Oracle won the case on appeal twice and Google got the Supreme Court to review. The case is about two issues being copyright in software and whether Google’s taking of Oracle’s code is fair use and permissionless innovation. Because of the fair use argument, this is not just some battle of tech companies because no one knows better than us that Google will take any win on fair use and push it even farther.
So all artists, songwriters, photographers, film makers, authors–all of us–are in the same boat with Oracle on this point. Sure Oracle is a big company, but Google is an even bigger company with a trillion dollar market cap and Google is trying to roll over Oracle the same way they roll over us.
In a must read “friend of the court” brief, Helienne Lindvall, David Lowery, Blake Morgan and the Songwriters Guild of America make this case as independent artists, songwriters and labels all harmed by Google’s policies that are out of touch with the market starting with YouTube.
As Beggars Group Chairman Martin Mills put it, “[P]olicing the YouTubes of this world for infringing content is a herculean task, one beyond all but the largest of companies. For my community, the independents, it’s a game of whack-a-mole they can only lose.”
Helienne, David, Blake and the SGA put that case squarely before the U.S. Supreme Court in this must-read friend of the court brief.]
Independent creators rely on copyright protection to safeguard their works. This is true not just of songwriters and composers, but of countless creators, including recording artists, photographers, filmmakers, visual artists, and software developers. Copyright is, in fact, of existential importance to such creators, who would be utterly lacking in market power and the ability to earn their livings without it.
Google’s business model is a prime example of the need for strong copyright protection. Since Google’s founding, Amici have experienced, observed and believe that Google has used its unprecedented online footprint to dictate the terms of the market for creative works. By tying together a set of limited exceptions and exclusions within the U.S. Copyright Act and analogous laws in other countries, and then advocating for the radical expansion of those exceptions, Google has amplified its own market power to the great detriment of copyright owners. Thus, where fair use is meant to be a limited defense to infringement founded on the cultural and economic good for both creators and the public, Google has throttled it into a business model.
Read the brief on the Supreme Court of the United States.