In the beginning of the XXth Century music consumption did not compare with today. Music publishers, for instance, were used to generate revenue mostly through…
The recent Kesha-Sony lawsuit has struck a nerve across the music industry by highlighting personal abuse and issues of gender inequality. It has also raised…
Secondary liability for copyright infringement occurs without the defendants directly committing an act of copyright infringement themselves. There is no direct language pertaining to secondary…
Copyright law is based on property law. It evolved over time and recognized more and more economic rights, such as those of music creators to…
In November, Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were ordered to pay $5.3 million to the Marvin Gaye estate for infringing Gaye’s Got To Give it…
Happy Birthday To You, referred to as Happy Birthday in the remainder of this article, is arguably the best-known song in the world. It is…
Unless you have been following the case of Lenz v. Universal Music Publishing Group1, you would probably never imagine using the words “dancing baby” and…
On December 24th, 1906, Reginald Fessenden, his wife, and a few helping hands began performing live music and readings of bible passages over the airwaves,…
Prior to 1972, no federal copyright protection existed for sound recordings. Congress rectified that situation by extending copyright to any recordings that were fixed on…
Two exclusive rights of copyright are at the heart of the worldwide business of music. They involve musical compositions and sound recordings, the rights of…
Sampling has been controversial from the very start. Supporters of the practice argue that artists sample songs they love and build on them to create their…
On February 5, 2015, the US Copyright Office released a comprehensive set of recommendations on how to revise copyright law called “Copyright and the Music…
2013 marked the first year that sound recording and musical composition copyrights could revert from labels and publishers, respectively, to artists and songwriters. The Copyright…
Fair use has always been a contentious concept. A great number of musicians, as well as artists of other varieties, include copyrighted material in their…