Copyright & Media Update 7/5/2019

July 5, 2019

Spotify Settles Class Action Lawsuits Filed By David Lowery and Melissa Ferrick With $43.4 Million Fund

BILLBOARD: Spotify has reached a settlement with a group of songwriters who had sued for copyright infringement, eliminating a potential complication to the public offering that the streaming service is planning later this year. READ MORE…

Soundcloud, Repost & The Case For Doubling Down on Distribution 

SOUNDCLOUD: A few weeks ago music distribution platform Stem announced it would be dropping the majority of the tens of thousands of artists who distributed through its system due to a change of services and yesterday, Spotify shared it will be discontinuing its direct upload beta at the end of this month. READ MORE…

Thanks to Led Zeppelin, a Federal Judge Puts Ed Sheeran’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ Lawsuit on Hold — Possibly Until 2020

DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS: Three years ago, music publisher HaloSongs filed a $20 million lawsuit against Sheeran on behalf of songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard.  Both alleged that Sheeran’s song, ‘Photograph,’ infringed on the 2009 song, ‘Amazing.’ Sheeran ultimately settled the lawsuit out of court, adding both writers to the song’s credits. READ MORE…

House Judiciary Hearing on Copyright Office Reviews Music Modernization Act, Black Box Royalty Concerns

BILLBOARD: With many indie songwriters concerned about how the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) created by the Music Modernization Act (MMA) will handle the buildup of black box royalties from 2014-2019, it was announced that distributions will not occur before 2023. READ MORE…

The Potential Impact Of Facebook’s Cryptocurrency ‘Libra’ On The Music Industry

FORBES: On Tuesday June 18th, Facebook announced a new blockchain-powered currency called Libra, a digital wallet called Calibra and a subsequent White Paper describing their purpose. In the White paper it starts off by stating, “The world truly needs a reliable digital currency and infrastructure that together can deliver on the promise of “the internet of Money”.” READ MORE…

About Christian Copyright Solutions: CCS’s quest is to help churches and Christian ministries “do music right.”  CCS is an expert on church music copyrights and our primary focus is providing licensing and clear educational resources to churches. Follow us onTwitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for legal counsel.

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