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

Attorney General George Brandis

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull

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

AMPAL to co-sponsor the 2014 Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition

VandaYoung 3.jpg

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/

acmf logo 1.png

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.

Major ISPs, Industry Trade Associations and the UK Government come together in Anti-Priacy Campaign

Consumers in the UK found to be downloading copyright-infringing content will be sent warning letters as part of a new initiative between ISPs and content creators.

Representatives from the UK's creative industries and major internet service providers ISPs have come together with the support of the UK government to launch Creative Content UK, a new partnership that will boost consumer awareness of the wide array of legitimate online content services and help reduce online copyright infringement. The full story can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-education-programme-launched-to-combat-online-piracy

ICMP to force closure of unauthorised piano files site

Following the mass letter writing campaign carried out by ICMP with prominent music publishers from around the world, and the subsequent meetings with ICMP’s Anti-Piracy Committee (as represented by the Music Publishers Association UK), the operators of the copyright infringing sheet music website ‘pianofiles.com’ have announced that the site will be shut down.   Building on this significant breakthrough, ICMP’s Anti-Piracy Committee is currently working on next steps regarding various other coordinated actions at a global level.

Lindy Morrison Receives Ted Albert Award

APRA have announced that this year's recipient of the Ted Albert Award for outstanding service to the music industry is Lindy Morrison. Lindy has been a tireless campaigner on behalf of musicians. Lindy was the drummer with the Go-Betweens. she is also the National Welfare Coordinator of Support Act Limited and a long time performer director of PPCA. More info can be found here: http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/news/allnews/LINDYMORRISONOAMTORECEIVETEDALBERTAWARDFOROUTSTANDINGSERVICESTOAUSTRALIANMUSIC.aspx

MCPS to outsource synch licensing

CueSongs has been appointed to carry out all individual sync licensing activity on behalf of MCPS mandated members. MCPS is the UK mechanical right society and is managed by PRS for Music. CueSongs was co-founded by Peter Gabriel and digital music veteran Ed Averdieck.  Jane Dyball, CEO of MCPS, says: “CueSongs is totally focused on the business of sync licensing and is already a MCPS trusted partner in other areas of business, so we are looking forward to seeing rapid results. More details can be found here: http://www.prsformusic.com/aboutus/press/latestpressreleases/Pages/cuesongs-appointed-by-mcps-for-individual-sync-licensing.aspx

UK Government delays the introduction of private copying exception

The UK Government planned to change UK Copyright Law to allow private copying from June this year. The changes would permit consumers to copy their lawfully acquired music files onto their music player of choice for their personal use. However the changes have been temporarily put on hold while further consideration is given to how such changes fit with European law. Changes to allow parodies are also being reviewed. The changes arise from the Hargraves Review of Intellectual Property. 

The proposed changes are a long way short of the recent proposals by Australian Law Reform Commission to introduce an exception to copyright infringement for the "fair use" of copyright material. The "fair use" concept was specifically rejected by the Hargraves Review. The UK changes mirror 2005 changes to Australian Copyright Law. Apart from private copying, they also introduce a number of other exceptions including for archiving. Details of the proposed UK changes can be found here:   http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/hargreaves/hargreaves-copyright/hargreaves-copyright-techreview.htm

An article on the delay can be found here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/08/govt_yanks_copyright_exceptions/

US Synch Market

Emmanuel Legrand has posted an interesting blog on the US synch market, following a recent trip to MusExpo in LA. Emmanuel is a freelance journalist who also co-ordinates the biennial CISAC Copyright Congress.

Part 1: Understanding the market, can be found here: http://legrandnetwork.blogspot.fr/2014/04/synchs-part-1-understanding-hollywood.html

Part 2: 10 tips for an efficient synch business, can be found here:
http://legrandnetwork.blogspot.fr/2014/04/synchs-part-2-ten-tips-for-successful.html


Discount for AMPAL Members at Copyright Council Seminar in Brisbane.

copy council logo.jpg

The Australian Copyright Council's national seminar is taking place in Brisbane from 2nd to 4th of June.

The Australian Copyright Council offers a range of practical and informative seminars on Australian copyright law to assist people dealing with content in the digital age. More information can be found here:  http://www.copyright.org.au/pdf/sem2014/brisem.html. AMPAL members qualify for a 10% discount .

 

Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement is currently being negotiated between Australia, the US, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore, aimed at simplifying trade between the 12 nations. A leaked version of the chapter on Intellectual Property has caused concern in some quarters that the US have been pushing for tougher IP provisions in the agreement. An interesting analysis of the leaked section can be found here: http://works.bepress.com/kimweatherall/27/