A Solution to the Orphan Works Problem in the Internet Age
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Notice of Use of Sound Recordings Under Statutory License
Notice of Use of Sound Recordings 5 under Statutory License United States Copyright Office In accordance with 37 CFR 370.2, the transmission service named below hereby files with the Library of Congress, United States Copyright Office, a notice stating the service’s intention to use the statutory license under sections 112(e) or 114(d)(2), or both, of title 17 of the United States Code, as amended by Public Law 104-39, 109 Stat. 336, and Public Law 105-304, 112 Stat. 2860. Please enclose a check or money order for the nonrefundable filing fee of $40.00, payable to Register of Copyrights. Mail to: Check, if applicable: Copyright Royalty Board Amended filing ATTN: Licensing Division PO Box 70977 Washington, DC 20024-0977 Please type or print the requested information for each item. If this is an amended filing, please indicate which item contains new information by checking the “New Information” box to the left of that item. New Information 1 Name of service 2 Mailing address NOTE: A post office box is acceptable if it is the only address that can be used in that geographic location. 3 Telephone no. 4 Fax no. 5 Website address of service http:// NOTE: Information must be provided on how to gain access to the online website or home page of the service, or where information may be posted under the regulations concerning the use of sound recordings. 6 Nature of license and category of service: (Check all that apply) a Statutory license for digital transmissions, 17 USC §114(d)(2) Preexisting subscription service Eligible nonsubscription transmission -
The Music Modernization Act of 2018 and Its Burgeoning Impact Jeffrey G
The Music Modernization Act of 2018 and its Burgeoning Impact Jeffrey G. Knowles, Partner, Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP Lisa M. Schreihart, Attorney Abstract The Music Modernization Act of 2018 (“MMA”), enacted October 11, 2018, is the most significant reform of music copyright law in decades. As the first major legislation since the Copyright Act of 1976 to affect music royalties, the MMA has made major strides in improving compensation and to level the playing field for all music creators, including songwriters, legacy artists, and music producers. The MMA modernizes the musical works licensing scheme for today’s digital music environment, provides federal copyright protection for pre-1972 sound recordings, and ensures that music producers can get a piece of the royalty pie. The MMA may also have some shortcomings that allow room for legislative growth in the modern music era. This paper describes the key parts of the MMA and eXamines the benefits and criticisms of the Act that have surfaced in the Act’s first year as law. An Overview of the Music Modernization Act The Music Modernization Act (MMA), proposed as H.R. 1551 by Representatives Orrin G. Hatch and Bob Goodlatte, combined the Music Modernization Act of 2018 (S. 2334), the Classics Protection and Access Act (S. 2393), and the Allocation for Music Producers Act (S. 2625). The MMA, an amended version of S. 2823, passed unanimously both in the House as H.R. 5447 on April 25, 2018 and in the Senate on September 18, 2018. The MMA was enacted October 11, 2018. The MMA is intended to: 1) increase compensation to songwriters and streamline licensing of their music; 2) enable artists who recorded music before 1972 to be paid royalties when their music is played on digital services; and 3) enable music producers (e.g., record producers, sound engineers, and other studio professionals) to receive royalties for their creative contributions to recorded music. -
Orphan Works and Mass Digitization Report
united states copyright office Orphan Works and Mass Digitization a report of the register of copyrights june 2015 united states copyright office Orphan Works and Mass Digitization a report of the register of copyrights june 2015 U.S. Copyright Office Orphan Works and Mass Digitization ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This Report reflects the dedication and expertise of the Office of Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Copyright Office. Karyn Temple Claggett, Associate Register of Copyrights and Director of Policy and International Affairs, managed the overall study process, including coordination of the public comments and roundtable hearings, analysis, drafting, and recommendations. I am also extremely grateful to Senior Counsel Kevin Amer and Attorney- Advisor Chris Weston (Office of the General Counsel), who served as the principal authors of the Report and made numerous important contributions throughout the study process. Senior Advisor to the Register Catie Rowland and Attorney-Advisor Frank Muller played a significant role during the early stages of the study, providing research, drafting, and coordination of the public roundtable discussions. In addition, Ms. Rowland and Maria Strong, Deputy Director of Policy and International Affairs, reviewed a draft of the Report and provided important insights. Barbara A. Ringer Fellows Michelle Choe and Donald Stevens provided helpful research and analysis for several sections of the Report. Senior Counsel Kimberley Isbell, Counsels Brad Greenberg and Aurelia Schultz, Attorney-Advisors Katie Alvarez and Aaron Watson, and Law Clerk Konstantia Katsouli contributed valuable research and citation assistance. Finally, I would like to thank the many interested parties who participated in the public roundtables and submitted written comments to the Office. -
Draft of 7/26/2019 RECONCEPTUALIZING
Draft of 7/26/2019 RECONCEPTUALIZING COMPULSORY COPYRIGHT LICENSES 72 Stanford Law Review (Forthcoming 2020) Jacob Victor* ABSTRACT United States copyright law generally assumes that by providing property entitlements in creative works, the free market will balance between two competing priorities: incentivizing creators to produce works and ensuring the public has adequate access to this content. But the Copyright Act also outlines several detailed compulsory licensing schemes requiring the owners of certain copyright interests, musical works in particular, to license to anyone at government-set prices. Consistent with broader property theory concepts, scholars tend to treat compulsory copyright licenses as liability rules used only to address market failures caused by transaction costs. This Article questions that account, arguing that compulsory licensing also plays an important and underexplored role in furthering copyright’s specific policy agenda. A close analysis of the music regulatory regime and its history shows that its primary function has been to recalibrate the balance between creators’ financial incentives and public access to expressive works in situations where free market licensing would yield problematic outcomes. Unlike liability rules designed only to address transaction costs, for which regulators generally try to mimic market rates using market proxies, the compulsory music licensing regime traditionally used copyright policy- oriented rate-setting criteria. Applying these criteria, regulators often chose below-market -
Determination of Rates and Terms: Docket 2005-1 CRB DTRA
UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT ROYALTY JUDGES ____________________________________ In the Matter of ) ) DIGITAL PERFORMANCE RIGHT ) Docket No. 2005-1 CRB DTRA IN SOUND RECORDINGS AND ) EPHEMERAL RECORDINGS ) ____________________________________) DETERMINATION OF RATES AND TERMS I. INTRODUCTION A. SUBJECT OF THE PROCEEDING This is a rate determination proceeding convened under 17 U.S.C. 803(b) et seq. and 37 CFR 351 et seq., in accord with the Copyright Royalty Judges’ Notice announcing commencement of proceeding, with a request for Petitions to Participate in a proceeding to determine the rates and terms for a digital public performance of sound recordings by means of an eligible nonsubscription transmission or a transmission made by a new subscription service under section 114 of the Copyright Act, as amended by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), and for the making of ephemeral copies in furtherance of these digital public performances under section 112, as created by the DMCA, published at 70 FR 7970 (February 16, 2005). The rates and terms set in this proceeding apply to the period of January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2010. 17 U.S.C. 804(b)(3)(A). B. PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDING The parties to this proceeding are: (i) Digital Media Association and certain of its member companies that participated in this proceeding, namely: America Online, Inc. (“AOL”), Yahoo!, Inc. (Yahoo!”), Microsoft, Inc. (“Microsoft”), and Live365, Inc. (“Live 365”) (collectively referred to as “DiMA”); (ii) “Radio Broadcasters”(this designation was adopted by the parties): namely, Bonneville International Corp., Clear Channel Communications, Inc., National Religious Broadcasters Music License Committee (“NRBMLC”), Susquehanna Radio Corp.; (iii) SBR Creative Media, Inc. -
Orphan Works, Mass Rights Clearance, and Online Libraries
Ringnalda.qxd 1 Orphan Works, Mass Rights Clearance, and Allard Ringnalda Online Libraries: The Flaws of the Draft Orphan Works Directive and Extended Collective Licensing as a Solution 1. Introduction European lawmakers have recently shown a profound interest in copyright law as an obstacle to the creation of Allard Ringnalda, Project researcher, Centre for online digital libraries. Unfortunately, a new directive that is Intellectual Property Law, Molengraaff Institute soon to be proposed to remove these obstacles suggests for Private Law, Utrecht University; PhD resear- that they have focused on the wrong problem. It provides a cher, Willem Pompe Institute for Criminal Law solution for the problem of orphan works: the many copy- and Criminology and the Department of legal righted works whose rightsholders are unknown or unloca- theory, Utrecht University. table. These orphan works cannot be used in a manner that The author would like to thank Rebecka Zinser and requires the rightsholder’s consent.1) With a new Orphan Willem Grosheide for their comments on earlier drafts. Works Directive, the Commission aims to facilitate the ex- The usual disclaimer applies. pansion of Europeana, the non-profit online library that should disseminate the digitised collections of all European national libraries. The problem of orphan works obviously stands in the way of a successful online library: if copyrights cannot be cleared, copyrighted works cannot be digitised and made available online. However, in this article, I shall propose and defend two claims. First, that the issue of orphan works is not the main hurdle on the way to a successful Europeana. Instead, the orphan works problem is only a symptom of a much larger issue: the inability to clear copyrights for the mass digitization and online dissemination of entire library collections. -
Computer Software Derivative Works: the Calm Before the Storm
COMPUTER SOFTWARE DERIVATIVE WORKS: THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM Natalie Heineman* Cite as 8 J. HIGH TECH. L. 235 (2008) I. Introduction Every generation believes they live in the most exciting times of continued social and technological advancement. Since the advent of computers and the internet, however, the present is a time in which progress seems unrivaled. While the law races to catch up with technology, the area of law requiring the fastest runners may be that of computer software derivative works under current copyright law. An author’s exclusive right to prepare derivative works is particularly challenged in the software environment where innovation often involves references to and incorporation of other preexisting works. Without definitive cases on point or specifically tailored legislation to guide the analysis, however, the scope of this note is simply to help define the issues presented, thereby drawing attention to what looks to be the calm before the impending storm. This note considers the challenge posed by computer software derivative works. The note first discusses the definition of derivative works under the current Copyright Act, and analyzes how the courts have interpreted derivative works in analogous contexts. Because defining a derivative work necessarily considers whether it has infringed the underlying work, the note then discusses how the courts make infringement analyses. The infringement analysis focuses primarily on the abstraction-filtration method as it has developed in computer software cases. Finally, the note considers trends in cases and legislation that suggest an increasingly broad interpretation of derivative rights. This section emphasizes the Open Source movement which will no doubt have a significant impact on the future of computer software derivative works. -
The Next Great Copyright Act
THE NEXT GREAT COPYRIGHT ACT Twenty-Sixth Horace S. Manges Lecture by Maria A. Pallante1 I. INTRODUCTION Tonight my topic is the next great copyright act, but before I speak about the future, I would like to talk a little about the past, including the role of the Copyright Office in past revision activities. In my remarks, I will address the need for comprehensive review and revision of U.S. copyright law, identify the most significant issues, and suggest a framework by which Congress should weigh the public interest, which includes the interests of authors. I also will address the necessary evolution of the Copyright Office itself. Those of you who have been to our offices in Washington know that we have a conference room featuring portraits of the former Registers of Copyright dating back to 1897.2 When guests are seated at our table, the former Registers preside on high, wearing a variety of expressions and overseeing complex conversations about copyright law in the digital age. Sometimes I think they would be startled by the discussions we have, but then again it might all sound familiar. Solberg (1887-1933) Thorvald Solberg was the first and longest-serving Register of Copyrights. He seems inspired in his portrait, and for good reason. Solberg was a visionary leader, a champion of authors’ rights, and an early advocate for the United States’ adherence to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (“Berne Convention”).3 Under his care, the Copyright Office grew from a handful of employees to more than a hundred professional staff, and took on the many assorted roles that are still critical to the mission of the Office today. -
The Orrin Hatch – Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act
The Orrin Hatch – Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act A Guide for Sound Recordings Collectors This study was written by Eric Harbeson, on behalf of and commissioned by the National Recording Preservation Board. Members of the National Recording Preservation Board American Federation of Musicians National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Billy Linneman Maureen Droney Alternate: Daryl Friedman American Folklore Society Burt Feintuch (in memoriam) National Archives and Records Administration Alternate: Timothy Lloyd Daniel Rooney Alternate: Tom Nastick American Musicological Society Judy Tsou Recording Industry Association of America Alternate: Patrick Warfield David Hughes Alternate: Patrick Kraus American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers SESAC Elizabeth Matthews John JosePhson Alternate: John Titta Alternate: Eric Lense Association for Recorded Sound Collections Society For Ethnomusicology David Seubert Jonathan Kertzer Alternate: Bill Klinger Alternate: Alan Burdette Audio Engineering Society Songwriters Hall of Fame George Massenburg Linda Moran Alternate: Elizabeth Cohen Alternate: Robbin Ahrold Broadcast Music, Incorporated At-Large Michael O'Neill Michael Feinstein Alternate: Michael Collins At-Large Country Music Foundation Brenda Nelson-Strauss Kyle Young Alternate: Eileen Hayes Alternate: Alan Stoker At-Large Digital Media Association Mickey Hart Garrett Levin Alternate: ChristoPher H. Sterling Alternate: Sally Rose Larson At-Large Music Business Association Bob Santelli Portia Sabin Alternate: Al Pryor Alternate: Paul JessoP At-Large Music Library Association Eric Schwartz James Farrington Alternate: John Simson Alternate: Maristella Feustle Abstract: The Music Modernization Act is reviewed in detail, with a Particular eye toward the implications for members of the community suPPorted by the National Recording Preservation Board, including librarians, archivists, and Private collectors. The guide attemPts an exhaustive treatment using Plain but legally precise language. -
Money for Something: Music Licensing in the 21St Century
Money for Something: Music Licensing in the 21st Century Updated February 23, 2021 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R43984 SUMMARY R43984 Money for Something: Music Licensing in the February 23, 2021 21st Century Dana A. Scherer Songwriters and recording artists are generally entitled to receive compensation for Specialist in (1) reproductions, distributions, and public performances of the notes and lyrics they create (the Telecommunications musical works), as well as (2) reproductions, distributions, and certain digital public Policy performances of the recorded sound of their voices combined with instruments (the sound recordings). The amount they receive, as well as their control over their music, depends on market forces, contracts between a variety of private-sector entities, and laws governing copyright and competition policy. Who pays whom, as well as who can sue whom for copyright infringement, depends in part on the mode of listening to music. Congress enacted several major updates to copyright laws in 2018 in the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act (MMA; P.L. 115-264). The MMA modified copyright laws related to the process of granting and receiving statutory licenses for the reproduction and distribution of musical works (known as “mechanical licenses”). The law set forth terms for the creation of a nonprofit “mechanical licensing collective” through which owners of copyrights in musical works could collect royalties from online music services. The law also changed the standards used by a group of federal administrative law judges, the Copyright Royalty Board, to set royalty rates for some statutory copyright licenses, as well as the standards used by a federal court to set rates for licenses to publicly perform musical works offered by two organizations representing publishers and composers, ASCAP and BMI. -
'Orphan Works'? Law360, New York (September 29, 2015, 8:06 PM ET) -- on Sept
Portfolio Media. Inc. | 860 Broadway, 6th Floor | New York, NY 10003 | www.law360.com Phone: +1 646 783 7100 | Fax: +1 646 783 7161 | [email protected] What Shall We Do About 'Orphan Works'? Law360, New York (September 29, 2015, 8:06 PM ET) -- On Sept. 22, a California federal judge ruled that Warner/Chappell Music Inc. does not own a valid copyright on "Happy Birthday To You," thereby adding one of the most recognizable English language songs to the millions of "orphan works." What should be done to more fairly enable the use of orphan works? Naomi Jane Gray, Harvey Siskind LLP The orphan works problem plagues many would-be users of works who cannot identify or locate the owners of works they may wish to license. This introduces uncertainty and risk into the creative process and can chill expression. There have been many calls for a legislative fix of this problem, including creation of a small-claims-type tribunal, excepting orphan works from liability for infringement if the user has conducted a diligent search, government-based licensing and collective licensing. Others argue that the existing fair use defense should be sufficient to protect users’ interests. The Copyright Office has endorsed a “notice and use” proposal, whereby users would be eligible for limitations on remedies for infringement if they file a notice with the Copyright Office of their intent to use works and conduct a “good faith diligent search” for the owner. Remedies for infringement would then be limited to “reasonable compensation,” envisioned to be comparable to a reasonable license fee. -
Orphan Works in the United States and Copyright Issues
1 Orphan Works In The United States And Copyright Issues Dear Karyn Temple Claggett/Catherine Rowland This is the research work of Perry4Law1 in which we are sharing our views about the orphan work related problems in US. The crux of our discussion is that there should be a balance between copyright protection of orphan works and their suitable publications. For any further informatin or clarification, kindly contact us at [email protected]. I. The Background-Orphan Works Copyright protection is made available the moment a copyrightable work is brought into force. There is no statutory requirement to get a copyrighted work registered at the copyright office of the respective Nation, including United States. This is also the main reason that copyright protection shares an invese relationship with copyright infringement. Despite much copyright awareness campaigns, many copyright infringers still believe that copyright protection is available only if the work is registerd with the copyright office. This is definitely a misconception and a sure receipe for facing a copyright infringement suit. However, many times a copyrighted work is published and is made available to public without it being registered. In some exceptional cases the authors of such copyrighted work do not provide relevant details about themselves. In such a situation it becomes very difficult to contact such author to do commercial negotiations about such copyrighted work. Such work becomes an orphan work in which though copyright subsists yet it becomes very difficult to contact the author to seek his/her/its permission to reproduce the work. Nevertheless, using such copyrighted work amounts to copyright violation and in many cases results in a legal suit.