A2IM filed with the Copyright Office related to proposed regulation changes for reporting to publishers under the Section 115 compulsory license which allows for the usage of written compositions for sound recordings. A2IM found two clauses especially problematic. The proposal to not allow negative reserve balances on physical sales to be offset against amounts due publishers for digital distribution and the additional reporting requirements which could require reporting for each individual service. Our full filing is HERE.
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A2IM recently joined with some of our music creator colleagues in a filing with the Copyright Office. The filing related to a Copyright Office inquiry about setting up a small claims court, claim amount limit not defined, where claims could be made outside the normally expensive court room process. The A2IM board and staff discussed the proposal and determined that the amount of time and money spent defending against numerous frivolous lawsuits could potentially out-weigh any potential benefits to A2IM’s independent label community. In the filing it is noted that we plan to continue to evaluate the proposed court as the process proceeds and the outline of exactly how the small claims court process, if enacted, is defined. A2IM will keep you updated and, as always, please send us your comments or questions.
As we reported to you previously, the Copyright Office is contemplating increasing the fees to register your copyrights over 80% during a period when copyright registration has never been more important to protect your rights and recover damages. Last week A2IM filed a response to the Copyright Office in opposition to the proposed fee increases.
The Dean’s List published an item last week linking to the Fulbright & Jaworski website which noted that on March 28th the U.S. Copyright Office announced a proposal to increase the fee to register copyrights digitally from the current $35 to $65, an 85% increase. The first question is should you register your copyrights? There is no legal requirement to register your copyrights and you can assert ownership many other ways. For example you can mail a letter to yourself and not open it and use the postmark as proof or go to a notary and get your written song notarized with a date. Despite the lack of a copyright registration requirement, A2IM advises our members that you should register your copyrights. The primary reason to register is if you need to prove ownership in litigation, especially against unauthorized music services infringing upon the work of your label’s artists. Without copyright registration, a music label or artist will have no standing with the courts and will be unable to sue for statutory damages until the copyright is registered and then the damages will only be for prospective infringements. Another reason would be the pending changes at the U.S. Copyright Office regarding the rights to Pre-1972 Copyrights which we reported to you earlier this year. The pre-1972 copyrights proposal is basically a ‘use it or lose it” situation where you need to keep your music “publicly available” to keep copyright protection thru 2067 (easy enough in the digital age) with a transition period of six to ten years to ensure all materials are available. The onerous part of this might be the initial; and potential renewal, copyright office registration process. A2IM will file with the US Copyright Office against enacting this proposed price increase which will cause a financial hardship upon our community. But before this potential rates increase occurs, maybe you should get an intern in to register the copyrights for your key tracks, especially any pre-1972 copyrights, as a good business practice. Register your song with the U.S. Copyright Office for $35 today.
A2IM was a signer on a letter to the Organization of American States (“OAS”), the organization that represents Western Hemisphere Countries, in support of a World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) report on the economic contribution of the copyright industries. The report, which highlights the impact of piracy on cultural diversity, economic development and employment, is titled “COPYRIGHT + CREATIVITY = JOBS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH” and is focused on the economic contribution of the copyright industries. The WIPO report emphasizes the economic importance of the creative industries in 30 countries of the world, including various OAS Member States and highlights the rapid growth of the sector — 2.5 times faster than the average growth of economies in general—and the significant contributions it makes to the development of countries.
Today a number of websites are shutting down in protest of proposed anti-piracy legislation. They are taking a unilateral action to make their content unavailable. However, under current law, A2IM members whose copyrights are infringed upon cannot take similar action. Our independent labels and their artists have no practical way of taking down illegal links to their music from rogue foreign websites accessed via U.S. search engines.
We urge these search engines to support U.S. content creators by working toward anti-piracy legislation acceptable to all. Let’s have a debate that genuinely acknowledges that the voices within our joint communities are deep, broad and diverse and let’s all agree that doing nothing is not an option.
The media has portrayed the issue as that of two giant industries (movies/music and technology) in conflict, as though this was a battle solely between very rich businesses. In fact, our members are small and medium sized independent businesses that invest in the creation of music and whose very existence is being threatened by the availability of illegal content on line. We look forward to solution oriented discussions among all parties. Learn more
