Entertainment Law Update Blog

So, I could not rest until I completed this assignment on an entertainment law podcast. I originally attempted to locate an entertainment attorney, without success, I decided to listen to two podcasts on EntertainmentLawUpdate.com. This podcast covers many current events and topics throughout the entertainment industry. One of the stories that pertain to my business plan was the story about Robin Thicke and his song “Blurred Lines”. The heirs to the estate of Marvin Gaye are attempting to sue Robin Thicke for the song, “blurred lines”. They gave family believed that Robin Thicke took Marvin Gaye song “got to give it up”. There has been many articles and videos about the two songs something similar. There is even a video of Robin Thicke talking about the songs and comparing them together. Is yet to be determined as to whether Robin Thicke copied the song from Marvin Gaye, however Thicke did file a declarative action suit against Marvin Gaye’s family to try and stop any lawsuit from Gay’s family.

            The intellectual property at risk here is the songs copyright. Music is often a hard medium to dissect when looking for evidence in copyright infringement. The song has to be dissected piece by piece, and broken down in order to prove that Thicke’s song “Blurred Lines”, takes substantial musical quality from the original song.

            Also, Bridgeport music is claiming that the song “Blurred Lines” has similarities to one of their songs, “Sexy Ways”, performed by the group George Clinton and Funkadelic. George Clinton has come out publicly on Twitter and said there is no sample of his music in the “Blurred Lines” song.

            In my personal experience as a DJ, I have played both songs blurred lines, and got to give it up, back-to-back and no one on the floor was the wiser. The songs have very similar grooves and musical elements. However, making a claim that “blurred lines” was stolen from Marvin Gaye song is a hard bargain. There are many songs that sound similar and have the same “feel” as other songs from past popular hits. The record producer, Pharrell Williams, was very clever in the way in which he re-created the field of Marvin Gaye’s classic song. Williams understands that he could not out right take the song, but he could make a song that feels the same, with the same tempo as Marvin Gaye’s classic song.

The second podcast I listened to was from EntertainmentLawUpdate.com as well. The story that stood out to me was the story about the interns at Warner Music that that have a class action lawsuit. Justin Henry claimed that he worked for free as an intern for Warner Music. He claimed that he was treated as an unpaid employee. The claim is that Warner is in violation of the employee wage laws.  This started a snowball of lawsuits against companies who house interns, looking for a way into the entertainment business.

            This, in my opinion, causes a great deal of problems for the Entertainment industry. I believe that interning is one of the best ways to gain experience in the industry, and it’s the proving ground for many up and coming directors, actors and producers. This makes me think twice about the growth plan for my business. I originally planned on using interns in year two. I however will not use an intern if I am in fear as a business owner that they will turn around and sue me for treating them as an unpaid employee. 

Legal Controversies in the Music Industry

I chose to write this assignment on 3 issues; copyright infringement through the use of Mixtapes, Online streaming services and the challenges they face when it comes to licensing the music they play, and music that is not properly credited in a DJ mix.

First, I would like to talk about how musicians in the Hip Hop Genre have been using other people’s music to create their own since the inception of the art form. The use of other songs to create your own is called sampling. The use of mixtapes as a form of promotion has been a main staple used by most Hip Hop artists after the rocket like success of rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.” Artists such as 50 Cent and Lil Wayne gained fast recognition for their remakes of original hip hop songs. Until recently, artists did not have to worry about getting the songs they used cleared. It was like an unspoken rule, as long as the artist does not sell the music, they could create freely.

This has changed dramatically. Record companies are suing artists for using their copyrighted music even for their “Free” music albums. Rap artists Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y pushed back their free album #LiveinConcert for fear of being sued by record companies. Mac Miller, was sued over a beat on his mixtape. This was an influencing factor in pushing back the #LiveinConcert Project.

I think this limits artist’s creativity severely. I think artists should be able to record songs no matter who made them. That keeps things fresh, without people thinking about getting samples cleared.

DJ’s may run into a similar problem. DJ’s in the past have been putting mixes out without giving any credits to the artist’s music they are using. Dubset.com is using a new technology called MixScan. This connects the artist’s music to the DJ’s mixes, giving all parties involved credit for each song submitted to Dubset.com as a promoter. Services such as Soundcloud.com allows DJs and others to upload music as long as they agree to standard copyright laws. This leaves gaps in the field of play. DJ’s such as DJPK1 releases mixes on SoundCloud without a playlist. These artists and labels get no credit for the songs played in the mix set. I think a site like MixScan helps everyone receive proper credit and decrease the chances of a lawsuit in the future.

Online radio formats are also running into obstacles. Pandora may have to pay significantly more money to Sony ATV music than to the Performance Rights Organizations (ASCAP, BMI.) There has been debate over what is actually “fair” as far as royalty payments. Other companies have attempted to go around Sony and negotiate its performance rates with the companies directly. This makes the situation even more difficult. SoundExchange has been used recently as a blanket performance rights agency that collects on behalf of all artists’ music streaming on the Internet. This website is a great tool for anyone with music that is released on any streaming sites. There may be money on the table if you do not take advantage of this resource. The battle for performance royalties is still not over. Pandora however needs to consider what it stands to lose as the industry leader in music streaming. What do you think is a considerable royalty rate per song play?

References: Music Law- Contracts and Band Agreements http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZmeTxL6h5I

Broadcast Law Blog   http://www.broadcastlawblog.com/2013/01/articles/pandora-enters-settlement-to-pay-for-public-performance-of-sonyatv-musical-works-whats-its-impact-on-licensing-for-music-services-and-rights-holders/

http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/wiz-khalifa-and-currensy-s-live-in-concert-mixtape-pushed-back-news.2611.html

http://www.soundexchange.com/artist-copyright-owner/digital-royalties/