In late September, a joint CBC News and Toronto Star investigation revealed allegations that Ticketmaster has been utilizing scalpers to get more money out of consumers through resales. While undercover at Ticket Summit 2018, a Las Vegas convention, reporters recorded Ticketmaster representatives stating that the company does not strictly monitor their site for scalpers and […]
Tag Archives: Highlight
Landmark Music Copyright Reform Becomes Law
At a ceremony in the Oval Office on Thursday, President Trump signed the Music Modernization Act into law. The Act represents a major reform of Section 115 of the U.S. Copyright Act. It received bipartisan support in Congress and has been widely praised by major record labels, streaming services, consumer groups and artists. Three provisions […]
Kanye’s “The Life of Pablo” Tweet May Give Life to Class Action Suit
On February 15, 2016, Kanye West tweeted that his album, The Life of Pablo, “will never never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale… You can only get it on Tidal.” A month and a half later, not only was the album on Apple, but it was also for sale on […]
CTE Kneeldown: Family of Junior Seau Settles with NFL
The family of legendary linebacker Junior Seau has settled its wrongful death lawsuit with the NFL for an undisclosed sum of money. Seau, who was 43 when he committed suicide in 2012, suffered from chronic traumatic encephalophy (CTE), the neurodegenerative disease that has been found in over one hundred deceased NFL players. The Seau family […]
Advance Attempts to Push Black Vogue Out of Vogue
Vogue Magazine’s parent company, Advance Magazine Publishers Inc., wants to take Black Vogue founder Nareasha Willis to court. On September 28, Advance filed a claim at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against 26 year-old Willis, claiming that Willis’ Black Vogue design of the word “Vogue” uses Vogue’s “well-known font […]
Banksy Painting Self-Destructs at Auction
Immediately after being auctioned off for $1.4 million, art prankster Banksy’s Girl with Balloon shredded itself in front of a shocked auction audience at Sotheby’s in London. Banksy revealed on their Instagram account that the act was planned years in advance through placement of a remote-controlled mechanism on the back of the canvas. The writing accompanying the video states […]
Texas Band Hits Chick-Fil-A, ESPN with Copyright Suit Over College Football Commercial
Law360 reported a Texas rock band’s representatives, Platinum Jack Entertainment Inc., filed suit against Chick-Fil-A Inc. and ESPN Inc. in Texas federal court on Tuesday. The suit alleges that the pair of companies stole a song from Dallas rock band Drayter for in the background of two commercials the companies released featuring the well-known Chick-Fil-A […]
“Empire” Strikes Back: Record Label Asks Supreme Court to Hear Trademark Infringement Suit
In 2015, Empire Distribution Inc., a record label, sued Twentieth Century Fox for trademark infringement. The lawsuit revolves around the television show Empire, a “primetime drama based around a fictional [record label] of the name.” Both the real-life record label and the fictional record label predominantly release hip-hop songs. The Lanham Act, the main law that […]
US Soccer Execs Ask Courts to Show NASL’s Suit a Red Card
This past week, Law360 reported that U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) executives filed a motion to dismiss in the North American Soccer League’s (NASL) suit in New York state courts. NASL filed suit in February alleging a breach of fiduciary duty and a purposeful scheme by USSF executives to undermine NASL while promoting the other major […]
AMP Act Introduced and Expected to Become Law
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 […]