Music and Entertainment Law Blog
Earlier this year, the RIAA claimed a victory against LimeWire for a $105 million settlement of its copyright infringement case against the late P2P giant. In the highly publicized copyright infringement case, LimeWire agreed to pay up to settle the claims of major record labels that it was responsible for widespread music piracy. Now, smaller independent record labels are seeking an equivalent share.
Continue reading “INDEPENDENT LABELS SUE LIMEWIRE FOR THEIR SHARE OF SETTLEMENT”
Earlier this month, a New York jury awarded nearly $1.2 Million to former DJ Orrin Lynn Tolliver, Jr. in a dispute over a sample used in The Black Eyed Peas’ hit song “My Humps.”
Tolliver, who formed an early hip-hop group in the 80’s called Sexual Harassment, collaborated with his friend and producer James McCants to record a song called “I Need A Freak” at McCants’ studio in Cleveland. Tolliver composed the music and lyrics for the song, but worked with McCants at his studio to record the song. McCants registered the song with BMI, giving songwriter credit to Tolliver. Years later, McCants granted licenses for use of the song, infringing on Tolliver’s copyright as songwriter and denying him his share of the royalties. Continue reading “Jury Awards DJ A Million Dollar Verdict Over “My Humps””
Last week, a group of major internet service providers (ISPs)—including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Cablevision, and Time Warner Cable—all agreed to a new enforcement plan against music and movie piracy. The internet giants signed a voluntary “Memorandum of Understanding” with content owner representatives (including the RIAA and MPAA) to create standard practices of “copyright alerts” directed at users flagged for possible infringement.
Continue reading “ISPs Agree to Alert Piraters in New Copyright Enforcement Plan”