Creative Industries
Main stories — Week 48, 2022
Here’s a list of the main stories published in the past week by Creative Industries News.
LEAD STORY
> Canada’s CRTC maintains local content and French-language music requirements for commercial radio stations
COPYRIGHT & REGULATION
> FTC moves to block Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of games company Activision Blizzard
> The PEACE For Music Diplomacy Act passes through the House and the Senate
> Japan government plans to create a new office to license works for which rights holders cannot be identified
> Italy’s creative sector fights Meloni government’s plans to scratch the €500 allocation for 18-y-o to buy cultural goods
> French government allocates €30 million to support news publishers hit by rising costs
LITIGATION
> BMG, UMG and Concord sue Altice for copyright infringement in $1bn lawsuit
> Nathan Butler and Sean Hall’s case against Taylor Swift dismissed with prejudice
> Japanese court fines two individuals ¥500m for posting unlicensed ‘fast movies’
> US Attorney’s Office in Maryland takes down 55 sites streaming World Cup games
CMOs & LICENSING
> IMPEL renews its admin deal with SACEM
> SACD and Meta sign agreement covering France, Belgium and Luxembourg
> PPL distributed £43.2 million in the last quarter of 2022
> Merlin’s partnership with STYNGR opens access to a new business model
> PRS for Music distributed over £200m in royalties in December 2022
> SACD signs agreement with French media regulator ARCOM enforcing author’s rights
> AKM joins digital licensing hub ICE Core
> France’s neighbouring rights society SCPP welcomes its 4,000th label member
DATA
> IMPEL strikes strategic partnership with music rights and data platform Blokur
> Sony Music appoints Rachel Chernoff to the new role of SVP of Data Science & Analytics
CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
> Zebralution, LyricFind, Deezer and other industry players launch BELEM to democratise and monetise access to lyrics
> 5 questions to Robert Singerman about the BELEM project: ‘To give music subtitles’
> Concord raises $1.8 billion with the issuance of senior notes secured by catalogue assets
> Kader Attia elected President of CISAC’s creators’ council for visual arts CIAGP
> ANote Music will list the soundtrack of ‘Cadillac Records’ from Matthew Knowles’ Music World Entertainment catalogue
> Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment welcomes 11 new members including France Televisions and RTL Deutschland
> Italy’s 2022 book sales to reach €1.67bn
DIGITAL ECONOMY
> Web3 music platform Public Pressure closes $6m funding round led by Scytale
> Amazon Prime Video overtakes Netflix as the leading US video streaming service
> Vevo extends partnership with Amazon Freevee to launch new channels
DEALS
– Litmus Music acquires Keith Urban’s catalogue of master rights
– Sony Music Publishing UK signs Naomi Kimpenu to a global publishing deal
– Beyond Music acquires the catalogue of Canadian producer and songwriter Greg Wells
– Downtown Music Services signs a raft of new artists for distribution, marketing and sync licensing services
IN THE NEWS
– Kurt Deutsch appointed to the newly created post of SVP, Warner Music Entertainment & Theatrical Ventures
– Melanie Ainsworth named Chief Financial Officer at Position Music
– Lauren Harman appointed President, Film/TV Licensing for Silo Music
– UMG beefs up its digital strategy team
– Cosynd promotes Rhea Ghosh to the position of Chief Marketing Officer
– Kobalt has named Kate Loesch as Senior Director, Creative
– Nikisha Bailey appointed General Manager of creators-centric label Nvak Collective
– Claus Thune has joined Podimo as Global Director of Programming
– PPL strengthens its Member Services department with the promotion of Titania Altius and Dan Millington to new roles
– Sony Music Publishing UK names Naomi Asher to Vice President, Songwriter Services and Neighbouring Rights
– Fruits Music appoints Arno Van Berkel to the position of Managing Director
– Sean Warner named President of Universal Music Australia & New Zealandas George Ash leaves the company
VIEWPOINT
> Terry Hart: ‘Copyright Under Pressure’
INTERVIEWS
In case you missed it, Creative Industries News published recent Q&As with:
– Bruno Guez (Revelator)
– Andrea C Martin (PRS for Music)
– Cécile Rap-Veber (SACEM)
– Molly Neuman (Songtrust)
– Jordi Puy (Unison)
– Olivier Chastan (Iconoclast)
– Ken Umezaki (Verifi)
– Paul Pacifico (AIM)
– Spek (PopArabia)
– Merk Mercuriadis (Hipgnosis) (Part 1)
– Merk Mercuriadis (Hipgnosis) (Part 2)
OPINION
In case you missed it, Creative Industries News published recent opinion pieces from:
– Chola Makgamathe (SAMRO): South Africa needs a comprehensive, multifaceted strategy to curb the economic impact of piracy
– Susan Cotchin (Good Neighbour Rights): ‘Australia’s decision to limit the application of Art. 15 of WIPO’s WPPT has impacted Australian artists in a big way’
– Helen Smith (IMPALA): ‘We don’t believe equitable remuneration is equitable at all’
– Jonathan Reichman and Jeremy King (Hunton Andrews Kurth): ‘Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith is an opportunity for US Supreme Court to clarify fair use’
– Kevin Casini: ‘Stakeholders need to take a long-term view with the Copyright Royalty Board’s rate-setting proceedings’
– Barry Scannell (IMRO): ‘Royalty-based NFTs have limited fungibility’
(Picture under license from AdobeStock)
Collective Management Organisations
CISAC adopts a declaration calling for human creativity to be protected and respected
CISAC adopts a declaration calling for human creativity to be protected and respected
Chordal
Youssou N’Dour named Vice-President of CISAC
The MLC plans webinars to show members how to use tools to manage song data
Six takeaways from The MLC’s first annual report for 2021: distributions, membership, matching rates, processed works, historical unmatched works and expenditures
Olivier Chastan (Iconoclast): ‘Name, image and likeness will be as important as music rights in the future’
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Collective Management Organisations3 years agoThe MLC plans webinars to show members how to use tools to manage song data
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Collective Management Organisations4 years agoSix takeaways from The MLC’s first annual report for 2021: distributions, membership, matching rates, processed works, historical unmatched works and expenditures
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Interview4 years agoOlivier Chastan (Iconoclast): ‘Name, image and likeness will be as important as music rights in the future’
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Collective Management Organisations4 years agoCécile Rap-Veber (SACEM): ‘We are a solutions provider to create value, a tech company, and we are less and less seen as some sort of cultural institution’