Monthly Archives: March 2011

Record Labels Only Get 1 Bite at LimeWire Apple

Posted on March 30, 2011 by

In May of last year, Judge Kimba Wood granted the record labels’ motion for summary judgment against LimeWire for secondary copyright infringement, to wit LimeWire had induced millions of people to illegally share billions of copyrighted sound recordings.  The case … Continue reading →

Posted in Illegal File Sharing, Statutory Damages | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Local TV Responds to BMI’s Motion: “We’re Entitled to AFBL”

Posted on March 28, 2011 by

The TV Licensing Committee, through the named plaintiff in this case, WPIX, Inc., has filed its response to BMI’s motion arguing that it is not required to offer local television stations an adjustable-fee blanket license (“AFBL”) like the one DMX … Continue reading →

Posted in AFBL, PRO | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

SESAC Antitrust Case Gets a Green Light

Posted on March 25, 2011 by

The interworkings of performance rights societies are fascinating only to those of us cursed with the responsibilities of negotiating or litigating against them.  However, an antitrust case against SESAC has the makings of a very interesting story. In 2009, the … Continue reading →

Posted in PRO, SESAC | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Illegal File Sharing Is Good! Who Knew???

Posted on March 24, 2011 by

The record industry has been telling us that illegal file sharing is responsible for the decline in music sales.  Now comes a report from a couple of economists from the London School of Economics that concludes the “Decline in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Illegal File Sharing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Google Book Settlement Rejected

Posted on March 23, 2011 by

Then federal district judge and now appeals court judge Denny Chin has rejected the Amended Settlement Agreement in the Google book-scanning case: The Authors Guild v. Google, Inc. 05-cv-08136-DC (March 22, 2010, SDNY). [ASIDE: You may recall Judge Chin from … Continue reading →

| Leave a comment

Fall Class Announced

Posted on March 7, 2011 by

I’m pleased to report that my Music Law Seminar at the University of Texas School of Law will meet again this Fall on Tuesday afternoons from 3:30 – 5:20.  No classroom has been assigned yet.

| Leave a comment

No Doubt Beats Activision

Posted on March 4, 2011 by

In an opinion provided below, a California state appeals court has ruled in favor of the band No Doubt in their lawsuit against Activision over the videogame Band Hero. No Doubt entered into a license agreement with Activision under which … Continue reading →

Posted in Rights of Publicity | Tagged | Leave a comment

BMI Requests Ruling It Is Not Required to Offer an Adjustable-Fee Blanket License to Local Television

Posted on March 2, 2011 by

In the “saw this coming” category, BMI has filed a motion in the SDNY requesting a ruling that its Consent Decree does not require it to offer an adjustable-fee blanket license (“AFBL”) to local television broadcasters.  In late 2009, the … Continue reading →

Posted in AFBL, PRO | Tagged , , | 1 Comment