Music Law

Home

Music Law

Epic Games and Google Ink Temporary Agreement to Keep Bandcamp on the Play Store

May 20, 2022

Late last month, reports revealed that Bandcamp was facing a possible removal from the Play Store amid a broader billing-policy battle between its Epic Games parent and Google. Now, the involved parties have ... Read More...

New York State Senate Votes to Prohibit Rap Lyrics from Being Used Against Rappers In Criminal Trials — Bill Heads to the Governor’s Desk for Signature

Ashley King

May 17, 2022

Photo Credit: Albany.org The New York State Senate has passed a bill to prevent prosecutors from 'putting rap lyrics on trial.' The bill passed the NY Senate by a 38-23 vote in favor of Senate Bill S7527, kn... Read More...

Ninth Circuit Appeals Court Awards Toni Basil Sole Ownership of 80s Classic, “Mickey”

Ashley King

May 17, 2022

Photo Credit: Lawren / CC by 2.0 The US Ninth Circuit appeals court ruled in favor of Toni Basil as the sole owner of her hit song 'Mickey.' This ruling comes after a long-running dispute involving terminatio... Read More...

Alan Parsons Awarded Nearly $5 Million In Legal Battle With Former Live Manager

Dylan Smith

May 17, 2022

The Alan Parsons Live Project performing in 2017. Photo Credit: RocknRollLove Back in January of 2020, Alan Parsons sued his former live-performance manager for breach of contract, trademark infringement, and... Read More...

Snapchat Faces Copyright Infringement Lawsuit From SUISA Following ‘Repeated’ Attempts to Negotiate a License

Dylan Smith

May 12, 2022

Zürich, Switzerland. Photo Credit: Henrique Ferreira Snapchat is officially facing a copyright infringement lawsuit from SUISA (the Cooperative Society of Music Authors and Publishers in Switzerland), the pla... Read More...

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley Introduces a Bill to Eliminate Disney’s ‘Unnecessarily Long’ Copyright Terms — Is This Bad News for the Music Business?

Ashley King

May 11, 2022

Photo Credit: Rebecca Hammel / CC by 3.0 U.S. Senator Josh Hawley has introduced a new copyright bill that would shorten copyright lengths for corporations like Disney. Could this legislation impact the music... Read More...

Pandora Fires Back With Countersuit Against Comedians: ‘There Is No Valid Justification for Moving Away From What Has Worked Well for Decades’

Dylan Smith

May 9, 2022

Photo Credit: Pandora In February, following a much-publicized licensing dispute, multiple comedians (and Word Collections clients) sued Pandora for allegedly failing to license their comedy albums’ underlyin... Read More...

RIAA Subpoenas Discord, Demands User Identities and Account Information

Dylan Smith

May 9, 2022

A gamer accesses a Discord server. Photo Credit: ELLA DON The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has officially subpoenaed Discord and called for personal information about the individuals who a... Read More...

BMG Puts the Major Labels, RIAA, and NMPA On Blast Over Mechanical Royalties: ‘Music Companies Have a Duty to Stand Up for Artists and Songwriters’

Dylan Smith

May 6, 2022

BMG has officially put the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), and the major labels themselves on blast for resisting a mechanical-royalty incr... Read More...

The RIAA (the major labels) and Yout are scheduled to begin settlement talks in May.

Federal Court Once Again Dismisses RCN’s Countersuit Against the RIAA and Rightscorp — This Time With Prejudice

Dylan Smith

May 5, 2022

Last June, a federal judge dismissed Princeton-based internet service provider (ISP) RCN’s countersuit against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and copyright infringement monitor Rightscor... Read More...

SGA, SCL & MCNA ‘Extremely Pleased’ With Mechanical Royalty Rate Increase Decision In the US — Here’s Their Statement

Paul Resnikoff

May 5, 2022

Major label and publishing conglomerates Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group, as well as other publishers represented by the NMPA, have tentatively agreed to increase mecha... Read More...

Kanye West sued by pastor sampled on Donda track

Kanye West Sued By Pastor Who Was Sampled for the ‘Donda’ Track “Come to Life”

Ashley King

May 4, 2022

Photo Credit: Kanye YouTube Kanye West is being sued by a Texas pastor whom he sampled for his Donda track, "Come to Life." The sampled speech is one by Bishop David Paul Moten and it plays in the background... Read More...

How to Get Your Music Heard — Proven Tips from Music Industry Pros

Kate Bush Thanks Stranger Things Fans for Giving ‘Running Up That Hill’ a New Lease on Life

Here’s How Apple Has Dominated Sync Licensing for Two Decades Running

The Methodology Behind Great Sync: A Breakdown for Brands, Content Creators and Supervisors

Developing Trends in the Music Sync Space — A Worldwide Conversation With Leading Female Music Supervisors

Social Media Is Transforming Sync — Here’s How I’m Scoring Placements in the Digital Age

Meet the Sync Superstar Behind the Ad for Nissan’s 2023 Z

Our Latest Podcast: Latin America Has 640 Million People. Why Are Fewer Than 5% of Them Paying for Streaming?

Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music Are Only Getting Bigger — Which Is Great News for Niche Streaming Platforms (Our Latest Podcast)

Meet the Artist Who Is Literally Saving His Fans’ Lives — Our Latest Podcast

How to Game the Billboard Charts (And Why You Shouldn’t)

Stop Chasing Playlists and Start Building a Music Career — Our Latest Podcast

‘Bone Conduction’ Headphones Don’t Go Over Your Ears — But Still Transmit Sound to Your Inner Cochlea

Now That the Music Modernization Act Has Passed, Who’s Gonna Run the Damn Thing?

What Does It Take to Layer Music Into a Web3 Project? We Asked a B2B Music Company That’s Doing It

Universal Music Group Faces Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Over Tupac Shakur Photo

Brazil Cracks Down on 400+ Infringing Music Apps — Just Moments After Publishers Target 100+ Infringing Apps In the US

Ed Sheeran Wins $1.1 Million In Legal Fees Following ‘Shape of You’ Victory

H.E.R. Sues Label for Release on 7-Year California Contract Statute

Epic Games and Google Ink Temporary Agreement to Keep Bandcamp on the Play Store

New York State Senate Votes to Prohibit Rap Lyrics from Being Used Against Rappers In Criminal Trials — Bill Heads to the Governor’s Desk for Signature

Ninth Circuit Appeals Court Awards Toni Basil Sole Ownership of 80s Classic, “Mickey”

Alan Parsons Awarded Nearly $5 Million In Legal Battle With Former Live Manager

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley Introduces a Bill to Eliminate Disney’s ‘Unnecessarily Long’ Copyright Terms — Is This Bad News for the Music Business?

Pandora Fires Back With Countersuit Against Comedians: ‘There Is No Valid Justification for Moving Away From What Has Worked Well for Decades’

RIAA Subpoenas Discord, Demands User Identities and Account Information

BMG Puts the Major Labels, RIAA, and NMPA On Blast Over Mechanical Royalties: ‘Music Companies Have a Duty to Stand Up for Artists and Songwriters’

Federal Court Once Again Dismisses RCN’s Countersuit Against the RIAA and Rightscorp — This Time With Prejudice

SGA, SCL & MCNA ‘Extremely Pleased’ With Mechanical Royalty Rate Increase Decision In the US — Here’s Their Statement

Kanye West Sued By Pastor Who Was Sampled for the ‘Donda’ Track “Come to Life”