Search Results for: Intellectual Property

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Kickworks have signed a licensing agreement that will allow the San Francisco based start-up to create a legal digital music library for use by amateur webcasters. Under the terms of the agreement, Kickworks will have rights to the recordings by all RIAA members, and Kickworks will pay royalty fees to compensate the musicians. The Kickworks Digital Network, set to launch at the end of the year, will be fully compliant with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) according to a company announcement. In turn, Kickworks DJs, who can be anyone, anywhere, will… Read more »

Lawyers from popular song-swap company Napster and the Recording Industry Association of America held a conference call on Friday with a court-appointed technical expert to resolve disputes over Napster’s compliance with an injunction barring the trading of copyrighted songs on the service. Both sides declined to comment after the call, held on Friday afternoon, and sources familiar with the situation said that U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ordered the transcript of the call sealed. Patel, lawyers from both sides and the expert, A.J. “Nick” Nichols, took part in the call, according to sources familiar with the situation. Russell Frackman,… Read more »

As chatter abounds regarding the urgency of digital distribution, major music conglomerates are moving quickly to demonstrate their eagerness to make their content available online. Further evidence comes with this week’s pact between media giants AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann and EMI and digital behemoth RealNetworks to create MusicNet, a platform for downloadable and streaming services. MusicNet will provide a pool of licensed music from the participating rights holders, with a technology infrastructure by Real. The label groups collectively have a 60% stake in the venture, while Real has 40%. Once the platform is established, any digital music provider satisfying the… Read more »

A New York jury Friday ordered online music company MP3.com Inc. to pay about $300,000 in damages to an independent record label for copyright infringement, as both sides claimed victory in the case and MP3.com said it would appeal. In a lawsuit filed about a year ago, privately owned TVT Records claimed that San Diego-based MP3’s Instant Listening service violated TVT copyrights by making TVT songs available to Web surfers for listening online. A federal judge said that on previous precedent copyright violations had occurred, and a jury was asked to determine damages in a case that went to trial… Read more »

Bertelsmann and EMI announce a partnership with RealNetworks to create an online music subscription service. In a move that may be the labelsí best tactic in its ongoing fight against Napster, AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann AG and EMI Group have announced a partnership with RealNetworks to create an online music subscription service. Called MusicNet, the new partnership will combine an extensive collection of downloadable and streaming music titles from the labels with Realís advanced streaming and download technology. The end result will greatly accelerate consumersí access to digital music from the majors, but unlike services such as Napster and Gnutella,… Read more »

Rock legend Prince plans to premiere a new song on Napster on Friday, becoming one of the best-known artists to embrace the controversial Internet song-swapping service as a means of promotion. Prince, whose hits include “When Doves Cry,” “1999” and “Cream,” said Monday that Napster users will be able to copy and share his new song “The Work – Pt. 1” free of charge and will be offered a link to the performer’s music subscription service. The song is slated to be released later this year on Prince’s forthcoming album “The Rainbow Children.” Earlier this year, Dave Matthews, whose hits… Read more »

For years recording artists and the executives who promote their work have had a love-hate relationship. Executives at recording companies, which make billions of dollars a year distributing music on compact discs and in other formats, say their business is risky and they should be compensated for taking chances on young talent. Recording artists, for their part, have long grumbled that companies are too controlling, lining their pockets by exploiting musicians unschooled in business. Now, while the debate in the music industry has focused on how recording companies should deal with the public online, the controversy has also reheated long-simmering… Read more »

Country music legend Charlie Pride will release his new record on April 17th. That’s great news for fans, but not for Napster users because the CD will allegedly be impossible to “rip” and upload to a PC. The Nashville-based independent label Music City Records says that the release, entitled A Tribute to Jim Reeves, will be the first ever to be encrypted with “cloaking technology” that will block people from converting the music into files on their computer, and subsequently sharing the songs on Napster. The inventors of MediaCloaQ, a Phoenix-based company called SunnComm, says that in addition to preventing… Read more »

Canadian singer Celine Dion has won the rights to the Internet domain name www.celinedion.com in a U.N. panel ruling. The name had been registered by Jeff Burgar of High Prairie, Alberta, but Dion and her recording company, Sony Music Entertainment, took their claim for the Web site to the U.N. World Intellectual Property Organization. The panel ruled that Burgar had no legitimate right to the name and ordered it transferred to Dion. The ruling was released Friday. Burgar contended that he was using the Web site as a fan club, that he was not using the name for commercial gain… Read more »