The Australian Copyright Council has released the dates for its 2015 National Seminar Series around Australia. A range of seminars are offered covering copyright law in the digital age. For more information go to: http://www.copyright.org.au/seminars
2014 Vanda and Young Songwriting Competition winners announced
The winners of the 2014 Vanda and Young Songwriting Competition have been announced, with Husky Gawenda taking out first place, Meg Mac in second place, and David Le'aupepe in third. The Encouragement Award went to Andy Bull.
AMPAL was proud to again sponsor the $10,000 second prize.
The Vanda and Young Songwriting Competition is one of the world’s most prestigious songwriting competitions with a first prize of $50,000. This is the largest first prize for any songwriting competition in the world. The 2014 competition saw 3,400 entries from 1,949 songwriters in 17 separate countries, with $170,000 raised for Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia.
More information can be found at http://www.apraamcos.com.au/vandayoungsongcomp/
Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all of the entrants!
US National Music Publishers' Association CEO discusses issues with digital streaming services
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, David Israelite, CEO of the US National Music Publishers' Association, discussed current issues in the US with digital streaming services. Watch the interview here: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/digital-music-streaming-are-songwriters-getting-ripped-off-19A898LbSLK6V8yAMS~G8Q.html
Leading Australian executive Kim Williams AM discusses the importance of music
In a recent interview, leading Australian executive Kim Williams discussed the importance of music in the role of managers, and in life more broadly. Watch the interview here: http://youtu.be/PGQx9FTIxK8
Music Australia Program for 2015
Music Australia has now published its program of events for 2015. The program can be found here: http://musicaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Music-Australia-Program-2015.pdf.
Music Australia is a fifty member not-for profit national umbrella body representing all aspects of Australian music. It is the only organisation in the country devoted to music in its entirety with activities spanning education, community and the professional industry.
New Director Elected at AMPAL Annual General Meeting
Jaime Gough was elected to the Board of Directors of AMPAL at the AGM on Thursday 13th November. Also re-elected were Matthew Capper, Clive Hodson, Ian James and Damian Trotter. Matthew Capper and Clive Hodson were subsequently reappointed as chair and deputy chair respectively.
Jaime Gough is General Manager at Native Tongue Music Publishing (Australia), an independent music publisher with offices in Melbourne, Auckland, London and Los Angeles. After completing a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) and Bachelor of Business (Management) at Monash University, Jaime started working in the family business as Copyright and Royalties manager from the company’s inception in 2004, before becoming Creative Manager in 2007 where his role evolved to include A&R, Licensing and International catalogue management. Jaime recently spent almost 4 years based in London expanding Native Tongue’s operations in the UK, Europe and US markets. Prior to joining Native Tongue Jaime worked for music licensing company Mana Music and prior to that at Mayday Management representing The Go-Betweens, Mia Dyson, Renee Geyer and David Bridie. Jaime has served on the board for non-profit youth music organization The Push.
Music Talks - limited places still available!
Music Talks Is a new series of talks, seminars, and panels and discussing topical issues in music. They are future focused with many geared to the independent sector. All feature expert presenters and speakers, and each targets a particular professional audience. Panel sessions include a skilled Chair with expert speakers, moderated discussion, and questions from the floor.
Music Copyright – the Artist and the Internet
Our second Music Talks seminar takes a look at Copyright. We are delighted to present Music Copyright – The Artist and the Internet sessions in Brisbane, Melbourne and in Sydney, each presented with local partners.
About the Seminar:
This Q&A/Panel Discussion looks at the latest developments to enhance protection for composers and creators from their content being used on the internet without authority. Our expert panel explains what is happening here and overseas, unpacks the terms involved, and answers your questions. Attend this seminar to understand what a ‘safe harbour’, a ‘takedown notice’ and ‘web blocking’ is, and the copyright issues involved for musicians and music makers.
Brisbane Session
Date: Tuesday 18 November 2014
Time: 6.00 – 8.00pm
Location: River City Labs
Presented By: Music Australia in association with QMusic
Brisbane Panel:
Chris O’Neill – Panel Chair, National Team Leader – Writer Services APRA AMCOS
Vanessa Hutley – General Manager, Music Rights Australia, Music Rights Advocate
Rick Chazan – Manager, GROUNDCONTROL Music Management (AUS)
Matt McCormick – McCormick Lawyers
This session is free to attend, More information here. Bookings are essential. Register to Attend.
Sydney Session
Date: Wednesday 19th November 2014
Time: 4.00 – 6.00pm
Location: Erskineville Town Hall
Presented By: Music Australia in association with Music NSW
Sydney Panel:
Michael Smellie – Chair, Music Australia, Panel Chair
Vanessa Hutley – General Manager, Music Rights Australia
Lindy Morrison – Artist
Fiona Phillips – Executive Director, Australian Copyright Council
Tickets to the event talk are $20 with refreshments provided, free to Music Australia members. More information here. Bookings are essential. You can book here.
The Music, The Artist and The Internet - The Latest in Digital Rights
Melbourne Session
Date: Friday 14th November 2014
Time: 2.40 – 3.40pm
Location: The Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Rd
Presented By: Music Australia and Face the Music
This lively discussion brings together users, artists and experts to look at the future of digital music rights in Australia. The Government’s recent Online Infringement discussion paper is a hotbed for discussion for rights advocates and artists who want the right to choose how their music is used, and those who make their living from composition or recorded music. From the latest developments for composers and right holders, to artists wanting to know more about sampling to media and users who want to understand fair dealing, we've got you covered. We'll explore and demystify copyright as our expert panel explain developments here and overseas, unpack the terms involved, and answers your questions.
Melbourne Panel:
Nicholas Jones – Tone Deaf: Moderator
Vanessa Hutley – General Manager, Music Rights Australia, Music Rights Advocate
Frank Rodi – Deputy Director Writer Services, APRA AMCOS
Ben O'Hara – Head Of Music Business, Box Hill Institute / Business Writer thebiz.com.au
Artist - To be announced
This session is open to delegates to the Face the Music Conference. Registration is essential. You can register for the conference here.
New UK Exceptions to Copyright
A number of new exceptions to copyright have come into force in the UK over the past few months, most notably for publishers in the areas of education, private copying, and parody. These exceptions are similar to exceptions already in place in Australian Copyright Law.
The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has issued guidance notes on these changes and how they will affect consumers, educators, creators and rights holders. The notes can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-copyright-law.
Certain exceptions only apply if the use of the work is a ‘fair dealing’. There is no statutory definition of fair dealing - it will always be a matter of degree and interpretation in each case. In general though, if the use of a work acts as a substitute for it, causing the owner to lose revenue, then it is not likely to be fair.
National Music Teachers Mentorship Pilot Programme Launched
The Minister for the Arts, Senator George Brandis and the Minister for Education, Christopher Pyne have announced $594,000 in funding for a new national music mentorship programme to bring high quality music mentorship to classroom teachers across Australia.
The National Music Teachers Mentorship Pilot Programme was developed in consultation between the Australian Government, the Australian Youth Orchestra and Mr Richard Gill OAM. It will be hosted by the Australian Youth Orchestra who will utilise their connections within the music and education sectors to deliver the programme.
Commencing in classrooms in February 2015, the programme will run for three years and establish mentoring partnerships between professional music educators and generalist classroom teachers with the goal of enriching music education in primary schools and engaging students in a quality music education.
The positive academic and social impact of a quality school-based arts education has long been recognised with many demonstrated positive impacts, including on academic achievement, school attendance and social cohesion.
The official media release can be found here: http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/Mediareleases/Pages/2014/FourthQuarter/20October2014-LaunchOfTheNationalMusicTeachersMentorshipPilotProgramme.aspx
Latest Issue of the CISAC Newsletter
The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers have initiated a quarterly newsletter. The current edition can be found here: http://www.cisac.org/CisacPortal/consultNewsletterEdition.do?id=5
Get on the Bandwagon
Support Act's crowd funding campaign to raise funds for its important work in supporting music industry professionals in need is proving to be a big success - with some great rewards on offer. Details on Bandwagon can be found here: http://supportact.org.au/bandwagon/
2014 Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition Deadline Extended!
The cut off time for entries for the 2014 Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition – the largest charity songwriting competition in the world – has been extended for a further four weeks and will now close on Friday, 24 October, 2014.
AMPAL is proud to co-sponsor the competition.
The Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition is one of the world’s most prestigious songwriting competitions in the world, supporting talented songwriters whilst raising much needed funds for music therapy that has been proven to help people with developmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Rett Syndrome and Angelman Syndrome and disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Dyspraxia and Spina Bifida.
The competition is open to songwriters worldwide with each applicant paying an entry fee of A$50.00 per submission with money raised going directly to supporting Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia. To date, the Vanda & Young Song Competition has raised over $485,000 for NRMTA over the past three competitions.
Submissions on the Government's Copyright Discussion Paper Released
Attorney General George Brandis
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull
Submissions to the online copyright infringement discussion paper issued by the Attorney-General, George Brandis, and the Minister for Communications, Malcolm Turnbull, have been made available. The submissions, including the submission made by AMPAL, can be found here: http://www.ag.gov.au/Consultations/Pages/OnlineCopyrightInfringement-PublishingSubmissions.aspx. The original discussion paper paper can be found here: http://www.ag.gov.au/Consultations/Documents/Onlinecopyrightinfringement/FINAL%20-%20Online%20copyright%20infringement%20discussion%20paper%20-%20PDF.PDF
US Music Buness Association Infographic
This interesting infographic has been prepared by the US Music Business Association in association with the US societies HFA, ASCAP and others. It does not exactly mirror the Australian situation.....
AMPAL to co-sponsor the 2014 Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition
Once again AMPAL is sponsoring the $10,000.00 second prize for the Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition.
The winning songwriter/s will take home a cash prize of $50,000 and join the illustrious company of past Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition winners – Megan Washington (2009), Kimbra (2011) and The Preatures (2013).
This unique charity fundraising songwriting competition is the largest of its kind in the world. It supports emerging songwriters and uses the power of music to help people with developmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Rett Syndrome and Angelman Syndrome and disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Dyspraxia and Spina Bifida.
All proceeds go to Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia.
Please visit www.apraamcos.com.au/vandayoungsongcomp to enter for more information and terms and conditions.
Entries for the Australian Children’s Music Foundation’s Songwriting Competition 2014 Opens
The Australian Children’s Music Foundation’s (ACMF) National Songwriting Competition is an initiative to encourage creativity and self-expression through songwriting. AMPAL is one of the sponsors of the competition. It is a free entry annual competition for every Primary, Secondary and Specific Purpose School, across Australia. More info on the competition can be found here:
http://acmf.com.au/songwriting-comp/national-songwriting-competition/
The Australian Music Museum Project
The Australian Music Museum Project is pushing for a national music museum by 2018 with exclusive stories, rare film clips, unseen photographs and a petition. A press release can be found here: http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d7eaf4e7eb85939f88b6c7c96&id=b37845dbc1&e=cd00e2c5a0
Digital Content Guide Launched
The Digital Content Guide has now been launched. It is a guide to help consumers find the creative content they want easily and quickly. The new website sets out a range of entertainment content that is available online from licensed sources in Australia. The Digital Content Guide facilitates access to licensed online entertainment services including TV and movies, music, eBooks, games and sport. The service is free and is available for desktop and portable devices.
The Digital Content Guide can be found at http://www.digitalcontentguide.com.au/.
London Police to replace ads on copyright infringing websites with warnings
The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at the City of London Police has begun replacing advertising on copyright infringing websites with official force banners, warning the user that the site is currently under criminal investigation.
More info can be found here: http://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/advice-and-support/fraud-and-economic-crime/pipcu/pipcu-news/Pages/Advert-replacement.aspx
Nominations Open for the AMPAL Board
In accordance with the Australasian Music Publishers' Association Limited (AMPAL) constitution, nominations for the position of board director can be received up to 60 days prior to the date of the annual general meeting (AGM).
The date for the 2014 AMPAL AGM is Thursday 13 November 2014. Accordingly, nominations for the position of AMPAL board director must be received by the company secretary by no later than 5pm Sunday 14 September 2014.
Details of nominees will be provided to all eligible full members prior to the AGM and in accordance with the AMPAL constitution. You can read the constitution at http://www.ampal.com.au/ampal-constitution/.
For a copy of the AMPAL board Nomination Form and to discuss your eligibility for nomination, please contact the AMPAL Company Secretary, Matthew O’Sullivan, email matthewosullivan@hotmail.com.