The First Shot Across the Bow at the MLC’s Redesignation Proceeding
Music Technology Policy
by Chris Castle
5d ago
We must always tell what we see. Above all, and this is more difficult, we must always see what we see. Charles Peguy The Reup is on! MTP readers will remember that The MLC, Inc. is in the beginning of its “redesignation” proceeding before the U.S. Copyright Office that we call “the rep,” because…because….well, you have to laugh at some point. Having appointed (or “designated”) The MLC, Inc. as the statutory mechanical licensing collective in 2019, the Copyright Office is required by statute to review The MLC, Inc. to see how they are doing with their exclusive monopoly over songwriter streami ..read more
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Meet TikTok investor Neal Shen
Music Technology Policy
by Chris Castle
1w ago
Give me a nickel, brother, can you spare a dime? Money can drive some people out of their mind… For the Love of Money, written by  Leon Huff, Kenneth Gamble and Anthony Jackson The clock is ticking for TikTok.  In case you haven’t been following the play by play, the app was banned in India for national security reasons back in 2020 (along with 58 other China-based apps), and has also been banned on government issued devices in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark and the European Union.   TikTok is also banned on all US government issued devices and on devices iss ..read more
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Breaking the Internet Yet Again: TikTok’s SOPA Problem
Music Technology Policy
by Chris Castle
2w ago
The latest attempt at forcing the divestiture of TikTok entitled the “Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, (HR 7521)” was recently introduced by Representatives Mike Gallagher (R-Wi.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.). Today the bill passed the House by a vote of 352-65, demonstrating deep bipartisan support. However, the legislation now goes to the Senate where TikTok has been conducting a fire sale. You know there’s a recession when TikTok lays off Senators, so the economy is all good today. The legislation would require TikTok’s Beijing-based par ..read more
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MLC Redesignation Proceeding Highlights Ownership Issues for the Government’s Musical Works Database
Music Technology Policy
by Chris Castle
2w ago
One of the few things Congress got right in Title I of the Music Modernization Act is the five-year review of the mechanical licensing collective. Or more precisely, whether the private company previously designated by the Copyright Office to conduct the functions of the Mechanical Licensing Collective should have another five years to continue doing whatever it is they do. Impliedly, and I think a bit unfairly, Congress told the Copyright Office to approve its own decision to appoint the current MLC or admit they made a mistake. This is yet another one of the growing list of oversights in the ..read more
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TikTok Learning the Hard Way that the Memory of SOPA is all they’re going to have
Music Technology Policy
by Chris Castle
2w ago
Remember Charlie Billingsley? He was the character in Friday Night Lights who had been a running back at Permian when they won State. Charlie told his Permian running back son Don “This is the only thing you’re ever gonna have. It carries you forever.” You may also remember the SOPA assault on the U.S. Capitol that essentially shut down the Congress from conducting its official business because Google did not want to be held accountable for massive copyright infringement. And of course you’ll remember the massive investigation by the Select Committee on SOPA and its devastating prosecution of ..read more
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Even to the Edge of Doom:  Google’s non-indemnity AI indemnity for users is a cautionary tale
Music Technology Policy
by Chris Castle
3w ago
And I do mean tale. There’s loose talk going around about big generative AI companies promising to “indemnify” their users against using their AI products.  When you drill down, these promises from the biggest companies in commercial history (unsurprisingly) are more nuanced—somewhere between a pinky swear and kings X.  Let’s take Google’s “indemnity,” for example.  In a headline Google may come to regret, their public messaging is pretty broad:  “Shared fate: Protecting customers with generative AI indemnification.”  Or “you’re as guilty as we ..read more
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Blake Morgan and #IRespectMusic Return to Washington for the American Music Fairness Act and #MusicFairness
Music Technology Policy
by Chris Castle
1M ago
Artist, performer, producer, songwriter and label owner Blake Morgan founded the #IRespectMusic campaign, the most successful grass roots advocacy movement in the US focused on overturning the century long injustice that gives broadcasters a free ride on the backs of recording artists. He explains in this interview from Washington, DC. With Senator Marsha Blackburn and Karoline Kramer Gould Blake, you’re back in Washington! Tell us what you’re there for this time? Having fun and making good trouble back in Washington DC, lecturing at American University and having meetings on and around Capit ..read more
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AI is Using Forks and Knives to Eat Your Bacon…and then there’s the political clout
Music Technology Policy
by Chris Castle
1M ago
The Internet is an extraordinary electricity hog. You know this intuitively even if you’ve never studied the question of just how big a hog it really is. AI has already taken that electricity use to exponentially extraordinary new levels. Data centers become significant industries in the states where they operate all by themselves (NVIDIA’s Q4 revenue from data center operations alone was $3.62 billion). These hogs will ultimately consume the farm if that herd is not thinned out. This is nothing new in Internet bubbles–AI is right up there with YouTube and Bitcoin as an energy hog. Consid ..read more
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Show Me the Splits: Tiffany Red Illuminates Stealing Publishing
Music Technology Policy
by Chris Castle
1M ago
#Beyonce amongst other Artists are being accused of stealing publishings on songs they didn’t write. I believe every single word #TiffanyRed said. When #Kelis was saying this very same thing about Beyonce stealing her samples for ENERGY on Renaissance, she was attacked on… pic.twitter.com/ncZS24S37M — Light Bearer (@LightBearer1984) February 19, 2024 It’s unfortunately an old story, but that doesn’t make it right. One of the most underpaid creatives in our business are songwriters who “just” write songs. “Just” is an odd word to use but it’s a common way to refer to those who give artists ..read more
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Serving Fans When Shutting Down a Music Service: A TikTok case study
Music Technology Policy
by Chris Castle
1M ago
Well, it’s been a week of TikTok. One reason is because it doesn’t happen every day that a major label shuts down their catalog on one of the big platforms. The experience highlights some issues that we may not have focused on with clarity in the past, but now become significant and worthy of some thought about how to do it better in the future. Because if it’s done nothing else, the Universal termination demonstrates that life goes on after TikTok just like before TikTok. Fans don’t expect you to give up your right to choose your channels or to survive. Based on public information, TikTok wan ..read more
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