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Music Performing Rights Organizations and the “Full-Work” vs. “Fractional” Licensing Dispute: Government Seeks to Overturn Fractional Licensing Decision

On Thursday, the United States filed its brief in its appeal of a decision by the district court for the Southern District of New York, which rejected the US Department of Justice’s earlier determination that a longstanding DOJ consent decree governing BMI requires “full-work” (or “100%”) licensing.  Rather, the district court held that BMI can engage in “fractional licensing.”

BMI is a performing rights organization (a “PRO”), which aggregates its members’ rights for the public performance of copyrighted musical works and collectively licenses those rights to music users, such as radio and television stations, internet radio stations (e.g. Pandora), interactive streaming services (e.g., Spotify), websites, bars, restaurants, and fitness clubs.  BMI and ASCAP are the two largest PROs in the United States, and each are governed by DOJ consent decrees, which were first entered into in 1941.  SESAC and the recently-established Global Music Rights (GMR) are the two other PROs in the United States.  SESAC and GMR are not subject to DOJ consent decrees.

The district court’s September 2016 decision was applauded by BMI and the other PROs, as well as other songwriter and music publishing stakeholders.  Licensees of music public performance rights, such as radio and television stations, however, decried the district court’s decision.

Continue reading “Music Performing Rights Organizations and the “Full-Work” vs. “Fractional” Licensing Dispute: Government Seeks to Overturn Fractional Licensing Decision”

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Are Jokes Protected by Copyright? Court Allows Case Against Conan O’Brien To Proceed

The US District Court for the Southern District of California has allowed a case to proceed against Conan O’Brien and others for alleged infringement of jokes.

One of the issues in dispute was the extent to which jokes are entitled to copyright protection.  The Court noted that “there is little doubt that the jokes at issue merit copyright protection.”   However, such protection is limited by the nature of the jokes.   “Each joke begins with a factual sentence and then immediately concludes with another sentence providing humorous commentary on the preceding facts.”  Facts are not protected by copyright.  So, protection is generally limited to the way the punchline is expressed.  Therefore, the Court concluded that the jokes at issue were entitled to only “thin” copyright protection.

The Court rejected protection for one of the jokes at issue because, while the facts were the same, the punchlines were expressed differently.  However, the Court allowed the case to continue with respect to the other jokes, where the Court found similarities in the way the punchlines were expressed.

Want to see the jokes?  Check out the Court’s decision here.

 

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Lil’ Jon and DJ Snake Sued for “Turn Down for What”

Earlier this month recording artists Lil’ Jon and DJ Snake were sued for copyright infringement over the international hit song “Turn Down for What.”

The complaint, which was filed by the publisher of a song also titled “Turn Down for What” as recorded by the artist Freddie GZ, alleges that the Lil’ Jon song intentionally infringed the Freddie GZ song.

In addition to having the same title and among other things, the complaint states that both songs contain a steadily/slowly rising synth line, that the phrase “Turn Down For What” starts on the same beat and uses the same rhythm in both songs, that the instrumental hooks are substantially similar, and that both songs contain the use of a short vocal on similar beats.

A copy of the complaint is available here.

Here’s the Freddie GZ version:

And here’s the Lil’ Jon – DJ Snake version:

What do you think?

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MusicFIRST Urges Congress To Address Music Licensing In Copyright Reform

In a letter dated May 4, 2017, members of the musicFIRST Coalition urged the leadership of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the House Committee on the Judiciary to support the Fair Play Fair Pay Act.

The Fair Play Fair Pay Act would establish a performance right for AM/FM radio, change the standard for determining satellite radio royalties, and require royalties for the performance of pre-1972 sound recordings. The letter notes that “[t]he U.S. stands alongside just a few other countries, including China, Iran and North Korea, in not recognizing a performance right” for sound recordings.

Members of the musicFIRST Coalition include: A2IM (American Association of Independent Music), American Federation of Musicians, RIAA, The Recording Academy, SAG-AFTRA, and SoundExchange.