The Allocation for Music Producers (AMP) Act was recently introduced in the Senate. If signed into law, this bill will create a way for producers and engineers to receive direct payments from SoundExchange instead of relying on the artists to fulfill their contractual obligations for payment. The industry has always been plagued by complaints of […]
The Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) has joined the growing support for the Music Modernization Act. Due to state-by-state legislation that governs mechanical royalties, the current state of copyright legislation is incredibly complicated for songwriters to navigate. This legislation scheme has resulted in songwriters and publishers not receiving due royalties along with a host of
The Journal on Sports and Entertainment Law recently sat down with attorney Horacio Gutierrez, General Counsel of Spotify, to discuss current issues in music streaming law. As Spotify’s top lawyer, Mr. Gutierrez is responsible for overseeing Spotify’s legal, compliance and regulatory affairs around the world, and serves as corporate secretary to its board of directors.
Spotify and the National Music Publishing Association have reached a $30 million settlement agreement to compensate publishers and songwriters for unpaid royalties that resulted from unmatched songs in its database. According to the Agreement, the $30 million will constitute a “payout pool” where $5 million is a “penalty pool.” Under the Agreement, publishers will claim
Despite marketing itself as a law-abiding and musician-friendly service since its launch in 2006, Spotify’s latest lawsuit settlement has helped unmask its less than aboveboard practices. Several months ago, the National Music Publisher’s Association (NMPA) sued the popular music streaming service for failure to properly obtain mechanical licenses for a significant portion of its library
Billions of dollars are at stake in the quest to provide the best movie going experience—excluding massive revenues from concessions and DVD sales, in 2015 alone Americans spent over $11.7 billion on movie tickets. The Screening Room, one of the newest and hottest Hollywood start-ups, has the potential to usurp the quintessential profit-making aspects of
