UK Government gives £150,000 funding to kick-start copyright hub

The UK Government has released £150,000 worth of funding to help start a one-stop-shop online Copyright Hub, designed to make it easier for those looking to use music in the UK to get information about rights, ownership and copyright licences.

The idea for a web-based Hub geared towards simplifying the licensing process in Britain was laid out in Dr. Richard Hooper’s Government-commissioned Copyright Works Report last year and followed Professor Hargreaves' review of IP and Growth.

Details regarding the Hub can be found here.  

MusicWeek reported that twelve companies have signed on to offer services to the Hub, including music licensing companies PPL and PRS for Music. The story can be found here. 

Music re-titling

An interesting article that claims that the music industry is plagued by retitling of songs can be found here: http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=162511
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NSW Governement releases its draft Action Plan for the Creative Industries

The NSW Government’s Creative Industries Taskforce has released its draft Action Plan with more than 40 recommendations to drive growth, productivity and innovation in the sector over the next decade.

The taskforce was chaired by the CEO of ARIA, Dan Rosen, and ​comprised of representatives from the worlds of design, architecture, performing arts, film & tv, publishing, fashion and advertising.

The Taskforce’s draft Industry Action Plan recommends a range of industry and government actions to strengthen the State’s creative industries over the next ten years based around five key themes:

·         Sustained NSW Government Leadership through continued engagement with the industries and recognition of the sector’s dynamism and impact;

·         A dedicated Brand and Communication strategy to elevate the industries’ achievements and profile;

·         Improving Investment and Business Development outcomes through better access to information, partnerships, and initiatives to drive research and innovation;

·         Maximising the benefits of existing and emerging Infrastructure;

·         Positioning Education and Training to attract, develop and retain talent and to align more closely with industry needs.

The plan was launched by Andrew Stoner - the Deputy Premier of NSW and Minister for Trade and Investment and Minister for Regional Infrastructure and Services.

The draft Action \plan can be found here:​  http://www.business.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/27213/creative_ind_action_plan_draft_20120309.pdf

Stephen Navin leaves the UK's Music Publishers' Association

The CEO of the MPA in the UK, Stephen Navin, has resigned. He left the organisation in June, after the Association's AGM. Stephen has decided to take up an offer to study history at Oxford University.

Recently Stephen was in Australia for the APRA Song Summit where he gave a keynote address that inspired, confused and amused the audience in equal parts. He was a great supporter and spokesperson for the music publishing industry and a towering personality in the British music industry.

He can be seen and heard presenting the MPA's series of videos explaining music publishing here: http://www.mpaonline.org.uk/content/educators

Catherine Gerrard steps down as Chair of AMPAL

The Chair of AMPAL, Catherine Gerrard, has resigned from both AMPAL and as Executive Director of All Music Publishing & Distribution in order to take on a new role at APRA|AMCOS.

Catherine will become responsible for all APRA|AMCOS’ print licensing. She will also be taking on a number of other consultancy roles.

The General Manager of AMPAL, Jeremy Fabinyi, commented that Catherine’s departure will be a big loss to AMPAL. On the other hand, she will continue to serve the publishing community in her role at APRA|AMCOS.

“Catherine has provided monumental service in her time as Chair of AMPAL. She showed an unrivalled commitment and enthusiasm to push the organisation forward. We will miss her.” 

Matthew Capper, new AMPAL Chair

The new AMPAL Chair is Matthew Capper, Managing Director of Warner/Chappell Music Australia Pty Ltd. He is also a Director of Chappell & Co (Australia) Pty Ltd, Wallaby Music Pty Ltd, Warner/Chappell Pty Ltd, the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society Limited and Non-executive Publisher Director of APRA.
 

US Copyright Alert System Goes into Effect

The US system of alerting consumers  trading in unauthorised copyrighted content has gone into effect. ISPs will now warn customers when illegal filesharing is detecte. 

The Copyright Alert System (CAS) was devised by a coalition of Internet Service Providers, content owners and the government to curb illegal downloading by alerting "casual infringers" when illegal file-sharing is detected on their IP address.

According to the Executive Director of CAS, Jill Lesser, ​"Implementation marks the culmination of many months of work on this groundbreaking and collaborative effort to curb online piracy and promote the lawful use of digital music, movies and TV shows." 

More information on the system can be found here: http://www.copyrightinformation.org/the-copyright-alert-system/

PPCA wins streaming court case

Record industry collecting society PPCA has won a landmark case in the Australian Federal Court enabling them to licence radio stations separately for their online streaming services. PPCA has fought a long battle with the commercial radio industry to increase royalty payments from the broadcasters for the use of sound recordings. A "cap" of 1% contained in the Copyright Act has prevented PPCA from achieving their aim. However the new ruling will allow them to extract payment from the broadcasters for their streaming services. The release from PPCA can be found here

BMI issues a "letter to the music industry" about the recent withdrawal of rights by some publishers

BMI CEO Del Bryant

The CEO of US performing right organisation BMI, Del Bryant, has issued a letter to the industry following the withdrawal of some online digital rights by Sony/ATV and EMI. Universal has also indicated it will withdraw some rights. The letter can be found here: 

http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/bmi_on_rights_withdrawal_an_open_letter_to_the_music_industry 

ARIA announce an increase in the total industry value.

According to industry trade body ARIA, the total industry value rose last year for the first time since 2009. According to figures released today the value of the Australian recorded music industry in 2012 increased by 4%. The increase in value to $398.1m was the first upwards trend the industry has experienced in its annual wholesale figures since 2009. The story can be found here.

Sony/ATV get new deal with Pandora in the US

Sony/ATV/EMI have negotiated a separate deal with Internet streaming service Pandora which will give them an increased royalty compared to the rates paid to members of ASCAP and BMI. Sony/ATV/EMI withdrew certain rights from the performing right societies in the US as they weren't happy with the statutory rates set by the rate court.

Universal Music has now followed Sony's lead and announced that they will withdraw certain online rights from ASCAP and BMI.

AMPAL at MIDEM

AMPAL Chair Catherine Gerrard and General Manager Jeremy Fabinyi attended MIDEM - the annual music industry trade event - in Cannes recently. About 20 other Australian companies were also there. The AMPAL delegation represented Australian and New Zealand music publishers at the Annual General Meeting of ICMP - the International Confédération of Music Publishers - as well as attending briefings on development of the Global Repertoire Database and other issues of critical importance to the music publishing community.

BMG buys up rights to thousands of hit songs

According to the BBC, BMG Rights Management has signed a deal to acquire selected music publishing catalogues from Virgin Music Publishing, Famous UK Music Publishing and selected titles from Sony/ATV and EMI Music Publishing.

The story can be found here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20817206 

And according to Billboard, BMG  has acquired the Mute back catalog owned by EMI, which includes records released by artists like Depeche Mode, Erasure, Moby, Goldfrapp and Nick Cave.

The story can be found here: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/bmg-acquires-mute-records-catalog-1008059912.story#iqfy0UrXbXmGXqiK.99

UK Government proposes wider copyright fair dealing provisions

The UK Government has published its proposals for amending the UK Copyright Act to expand fair dealing exceptions. This includes format shifting, without compensation, broader educational and archiving exceptions and a parody right.

The changes follow the review of intellectual property law led by Ian Hargreaves last year.

The issues covered in the UK Government proposal touches on many of the same areas raised in the Australian Law Reform Commission's review of Copyright and the Digital Economy.

According to the proposals: "The UK needs to adapt its strong but rigid framework for copyright into one that is modern, robust and flexible:

• flexible in removing certain barriers to using copyright works, and thus supporting innovation and growth;

• modern in dealing better with the challenges of current and future te chnologies; and

• robust in ensuring there continue to be appropriate incentives for creators and rights holders to carry"

The report goes on to say "The Government aims to find a balance between the interests of rights holders, creators, consumers and users by introducing through Parliament a revised framework of boundaries for copyright and related rights in the digital age. Legitimate users of copyright works, the vast silent majority who pay for works and value greatly the contribution that creators make to their lives, will gain important new rights to use those works. It should make those works more valuable, and creators and rights owners stand to gain some of that value, particularly where they themselves are innovating. The interests of creators and owners will continue to enjoy strong protection, including requirements for people to deal fairly with copyright works and robust action against those who acquire or make use of works unlawfully."

Sarah Rodgers, the chair of the UK composers' organisation BASCA, commented: "Composers and songwriters depend on the protection of copyright to enable them to earn a living from their musical works.  Copyright is the legislative framework that for us music writers is the same as being employed - in other words, it's the way that we get paid for the work that we do.  An exception to copyright, without compensation, for us, is employment without payment.  The creative economy is not supported by denying income to its workers. 

“This decision makes songwriters and composers vulnerable to erosion of the value of our creative works and what we are able to earn from their use.  It is wrong from both a commercial and a moral standpoint and puts us out of step with our European counterparts."

The Government plans to introduce legislation next autumn. 

The report can be found here: 

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/response-2011-copyright-final.pdf

Australia Council's report into music recording sector.

The Music Board of the Australia Council commissioned a report into the Australian music recording sector to  understand the needs of the sector; to assess what is required to grow the recording sector; and to explore the specific role of government in ensuring the sustainability of music recording in Australia.

The report found a consistent view amongst stakeholders that there is a real need for the federal government to play a continued role in supporting the recording sector in the production of sound recordings by Australian composers and performers across all genres and traditions. 

New recording, mentoring, promotion and export initiatives were seen to be crucial in ensuring that the recording sector’s high levels of creativity are maintained and matched by a greater presence in national and overseas markets. This would require government assistance beyond existing programs.

In addition to funding programs there was a strong view that tax incentives, comparable to those offered to other cultural industries, should be available to support the production of Australian sound recordings.

The report can be found here: http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/146761/The-Music-Recording-Sector-Report-2012.pdf  

The Australia Council has also instigated a pilot program which will offer grants of up to $50k to record labels to support a schedule of new releases by Australian artists. Guidelines and application forms for the grant can be found here. http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/grants/2013/recording-initiative

The European Commission moves to modernise copyright

Following a meeting of the European Commission College of Commissioners on copyright,  the Commission has announced immediate plans to address six areas where progress is needed.  They include cross-border portability of content, user-generated content, data and text-mining, private copy levies, access to audio-visual works and cultural heritage.   

A structured dialogue via stakeholder consultations and impact assessments will be launched in early 2013 which, when completed, will allow the Commission to take stock and propose new initiatives. The Commission will also look at other issues such as territoriality in the Internal market, agreeing appropriate levels of harmonisation, limitations and exceptions to copyright, and how to improve the legitimacy of enforcement in the context of wider copyright reform with a view to a decision in 2014 on whether to table legislative reform proposals.   

A task force comprising Commissioners Michel Barnier (Internal Market and Services), Neelie Kroes (Digital Agenda) and Androulla Vassiliou (Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth) will be established to deal with all Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) issues as part of this process. 

“Copyright should remain a modern and effective tool to support creators and allow for innovation,” said ICMP Director General, Ger Hatton. “We are pleased that the Commission will engage in wide ranging stakeholder discussions to tease out any perceived issues with copyright prior to deciding a way forward.  Strong copyright foundations allow composers and authors to live from their work respecting the fundamental rights of both creators and rightsholders."   

The digital economy has been a major driver of growth in Europe over the past two decades, and is expected to grow seven times faster than overall EU GDP in the coming years.

The original discussion paper for the debate can be found here:  http://www.ampal.com.au/news-and-events/2012/12/6/european-commission-debate-on-copyright-in-the-digital-economy 

AMPAL delivers its submission to the ALRC's review of Copyright and the Digital Economy.

The Australian Law Reform Commission has been instructed by the Attorney-General to conduct a  review of Copyright and the Digital Economy with special emphasis on whether there is a need for more free exceptions to copyright or more statutory licensing provisions. They released an issues paper in August seeking submissions from interested parties. The Issue Paper is available here: http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/copyright-ip42

AMPAL- along  with more than two hundred other organisations - has made a submission to the Review. AMPAL questions the rationale for a number of the proposals floated in the  paper and has argued that any proposed exceptions or statutory licences must be subjected to evidenced based impact assessment.

AMPAL has also stressed the importance of a strong copyright regime to encourage and reward creators of music and those who invest in them. 

All of the submissions received by the ALRC can be found here: http://www.alrc.gov.au/inquiries/copyright-and-digital-economy/submissions-received-alrc  

The AMPAL submission can be found here: http://www.alrc.gov.au/sites/default/files/subs/189._org_ampal.pdf