By David Oxenford on Posted in Broadcast Performance Royalty,Intellectual Property,Internet Radio,Music RightsIn a very important proceeding we summarized here, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division is reviewing the antitrust consent decrees that govern ASCAP and BMI – the decrees that require that these performing rights organizations treat similarly situated licensees (and artists) in the same way and which allow a Court to review the reasonableness of… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Broadcast Performance Royalty,Intellectual Property,Internet Radio,Music Rights,UncategorizedThe Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division yesterday announced that it was starting a review of the ASCAP and BMI antitrust consent decrees that govern the United States’ two largest performing rights organizations for musical compositions (referred to as the “musical work”). The DOJ’s announcement of the initiation of the examination of the consent decrees poses… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Broadcast Performance Royalty,Intellectual Property,Music Rights,On Line MediaIn the last few weeks, the press has been buzzing with speculation that the Department of Justice is moving toward suggesting changes in the antitrust consent decrees that govern the operations of ASCAP and BMI. Those consent decrees, which have been in place since the 1940s, among other things require that these Performing Rights Organizations… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Broadcast Performance Royalty,Intellectual Property,Music RightsLast week, after passage by both chambers of Congress and signature by the President, the ‘‘Orrin G. Hatch–Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act’’ became law. The law underwent a few changes on its journey to approval, adding new provisions in the Senate to those which we summarized here upon its initial passage by the House. The… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Intellectual Property,Internet Radio,Music Rights,On Line MediaOn Friday, the US District Court judge who oversees the administration of the BMI Consent Decree rejected the recent Department of Justice interpretation that the antitrust consent decree required that, when BMI licensed music to music users, that license would embody the full musical work, not just a fractional interest that might be held by… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Intellectual Property,Internet Radio,Music RightsThe DOJ yesterday issued its long-awaited review of the ASCAP and BMI antitrust consent decrees. We wrote about the issues raised by the DOJ in its initial inquiry here. The questions that had been advanced in DOJ’s initial notice included (1) whether to allow music publishers to partially withdraw their catalogs from one of the… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Intellectual Property,Internet Radio,Music Rights,On Line MediaPress reports indicate that the Department of Justice is nearing the completion of its study of whether to suggest the revision of the antitrust consent decrees that have bound ASCAP and BMI for over a half century (see our summary of the issues that DOJ is considering here). Much of the impetus behind this review comes… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Intellectual Property,Internet Radio,Music Rights,On Line MediaThe Songwriter’s Equity Act has once again been introduced in Congress (see our article about that Act when it was introduced in the last Congress). It proposes to make changes in provisions of the Copyright Act governing the way that songwriters are paid for the use of their musical compositions – with the obvious intent… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Intellectual Property,Internet Radio,Music RightsWe’ve already written twice about the copyright issues being considered this summer before various agencies and branches of government – all dealing with music licensing issues (see our previous Summer of Copyright articles here and here). The pattern continues, as the Copyright Office has now requested further comments on music licensing issues, following up on… Continue Reading
By David Oxenford on Posted in Broadcast Performance Royalty,Intellectual Property,Internet Radio,Music Rights,On Line MediaThe House of Representatives Judiciary Committee last week finished its second hearing on music licensing (written witness statements and a link to the webcast can be found here). Congressional hearings usually are not in-depth proceedings looking to establish detailed facts as done in a hearing in a court proceeding. Instead, they are formalized proceedings where… Continue Reading
