Sugar Man Lawsuit Focuses on Missing Royalties
The story of Sixto Rodriguez, popularized in the documentary "Searching for Sugar Man", highlights what is frequently an issue for recording artists and songwriters: payment of royalties. Sometimes it's poor accounting by labels or publishers, sometimes malfeasance, and sometimes artists don't know who owns the rights to their music because the copyrights have changed hands so many times. Maintaining copies of contracts and records of payment are key to sorting out and resolving royalty underpayment!
The story of Sixto Rodriguez, popularized in the documentary "Searching for Sugar Man", highlights what is frequently an issue for recording artists and songwriters: payment of royalties. Sometimes it's poor accounting by labels or publishers, sometimes malfeasance, and sometimes artists don't know who owns the rights to their music because the copyrights have changed hands so many times. Maintaining copies of contracts and records of payment are key to sorting out and resolving royalty underpayment! - - - -
The documentary “Searching for Sugar Man” tells the story of Rodriguez, an obscure singer-songwriter from Detroit whose albums were commercial flops when released in the early 1970s, but — unknown to Rodriguez and everyone around him — later became gigantic hits in South Africa.
One of the most intriguing questions raised by the film, which was released in 2012 and won an Academy Award, was why the singer never received the proper royalties for an estimated half-million album sales in South Africa.
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An Oregon Guitar Legal Battle
Selecting and developing trademarks and brands are frequently the most important decisions a business can make. Marks that appear secure may be open to attack years or even decades later. A lawsuit filed by Korg Inc. against Jack Meussdorffer highlights how even a long-standing, vigilantly protected mark can be open to attack.
Selecting and developing trademarks and brands are frequently the most important decisions a business can make. Marks that appear secure may be open to attack years or even decades later. A lawsuit filed by Korg Inc. against Jack Meussdorffer highlights how even a long-standing, vigilantly protected mark can be open to attack. - - - - "On Sept. 3, 2013, the multinational company Korg Inc. and its affiliates filed a complaint against Meussdorffer and his Phantom Guitar Works company, seeking to cancel several of Meussdorffer's long-held trademarks and claiming "tortious interference" with the brand's own models. Meussdorffer and his legal team filed a counter-claim, and the case has slogged on ever since."
http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2014/04/phantom_guitar_works_vox_korg_legal_battle.html - - - -
Big Labels Take Aim at Pandora on Royalties
The outcome of a new lawsuit filed by copyright owners against Pandora Media could have far-ranging consequences for recording artists, record labels, and internet music broadcasters. The RIAA and its constituents face an uphill battle, however. Who will survive, and what will be left of them?
The outcome of a new lawsuit filed by copyright owners against Pandora Media could have far-ranging consequences for recording artists, record labels, and internet music broadcasters. The RIAA and its constituents face an uphill battle, however. Who will survive, and what will be left of them? - - - - "The music industry has opened a new front in its war against Pandora Media: royalties for songs made before 1972.
On Thursday, several major record companies filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, accusing Pandora of violating the state’s common-law copyright protections by using recordings of older songs without permission. Along with a string of cases filed last year against Sirius XM Radio, the suit highlights an obscure legal issue that has come to the fore with the rise of streaming music online: that recordings made before Feb. 15, 1972, are not subject to federal copyright protection and may be missing out on tens of millions of dollars in royalties, according to industry estimates."