Music
COPYRIGHT AND DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES: THE RADIO-MUSIC WAR
I had the pleasure of speaking last night at a program co-sponsored by the George Washington University Law School and the D.C. Chapter of the Copyright Society of the U.S. My topic was “Copyright and Disruptive Technologies: The Radio-Music War,” and the slides can be found here.
Read MoreTHE INTERNET OF THE 1920s
I had the pleasure of speaking with Meridee Duddleston of WRTI-FM, Philadelphia, about the impact of radio on the music industry in the first half of the 20th Century. You can hear the interview here.
Read MoreCOPYRIGHT THEORY IN ACTION
A congressional committee report on the epochal Copyright Act of 1909 contained the Yoda-like pronouncement that “not primarily for the benefit of the author, but primarily for the benefit of the public, such rights are given.” It was an inelegant expression of the basic theory of copyright, that giving authors exclusive use of their writings…
Read MorePAUL RYAN'S TWISTED SISTER
At a campaign rally in Pennsylvania yesterday, Representative Paul Ryan used Twisted Sister’s 1984 anthem “We’re Not Gonna Take It” as his walk-on (or perhaps walk-off) music. For those who don’t know or remember it, the song is a timeless expression of core Republican values (e.g., “your life is trite and jaded/boring and confiscated/if that’s…
Read More'TIS A GLORIOUS THING, TO BE A PIRATE KING
A provocatively titled op-ed recently published by the New York Times, “Internet Pirates Will Always Win,” urges content providers to give up the legal fight against online copyright infringement as an exercise in futility, as new technologies make illegal downloading and streaming ever “harder to trace and to stop.” The piece has prompted predictable responses from representatives…
Read MoreSWITCHED-ON SEARCH
I should, and will, be posting on Google’s mounting antitrust problems and on the status of its attempt to corner the book search market, but today I am utterly transfixed by the functional Moog Synthesizer that Google has placed on its home page, in honor of what would have been Robert Moog’s 78th birthday. (What’s so special about…
Read MoreY-M-C-A: VILLAGE PEOPLE FRONT MAN SCORES EARLY VICTORY IN COPYRIGHT TRANSFER TERMINATION WARS
January 1, 2013 is a date that has long been circled on music industry calendars. It will mark the 35th anniversary of the 1978 effective date of the Copyright Act of 1976, and is the day authors and artists can be begin to take advantage of the Act’s liberalized copyright transfer termination provisions. (Paul Goldstein’s…
Read MoreABOUT THOSE 12 LPs FOR A DOLLAR: RECORDING LEGENDS SUE OVER RECORD CLUB ROYALTIES
One of the guilty pleasures of vinyl record collecting in the 60s and 70s was taking advantage of Columbia House Record Club’s introductory teaser offers, usually 12 records for a dollar, to purchase in bulk. (Did I hear you say that there must be a catch? Of course, but I’d love to know what percentage…
Read MoreBOOK REPORT: “HAVANA REQUIEM”
THIS POST CONTAINS NO SPOILERS! A flawed, fallen hero seeking redemption, a sultry Cuban femme fatale, a corrupt cop, alternately suave and brutish, a mysterious disappearance, double-crosses, diplomatic intrigue, and the ultimate vindication of authors’ termination rights under Section 304(c)(4) of the Copyright Act—these are the things from which copyright lawyers’ dreams, and Paul Goldstein’s…
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