Included in the many battles and challenges the music business face to keep the industry afloat, the massive decline in CD sales and spike in online piracy are only a mere fraction of the legal battles the business juggles. In an attempt to keep the industry alive, record labels have been desperate finding ways to make new money from 360 deals at the artist expense, filing suits against websites, and the fight on royalties and licensing.
Amongst constant legal pursuits to strengthen existing copyright laws against consumer infringement, major record labels are also acquiring lawsuits themselves from musicians due to the innovation of media sales of music from online distributors. Since iTunes is required to license music from record companies, the labels are making a profit from licenses and music sales, which raises questions from artists wanting to know what percentage of royalties from licenses and record sales, are the record companies supposed to pay them. In a review of well known artists who recently filed claims against their label, gave a better insight on the ongoing royalty legal issue.
The late Rick James most recently popularized by his statement on a BET awards show "I'm Rick James B****." has found himself after death fighting for royalties that his estate believes Universal records cheated them out on. The estate filed a class action against UMG suing for damages claiming the label owes unpaid royalties from the sale of digital music downloads and ringtones. According to entertainment attorney Tamera H. Bennet "In accordance with the Eminem decision in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a digital download is a license, and an artist is typically entitled to 50% of what the record label was paid for the license, versus a lesser percentage that would be due for the sale of a record."(2011) Since the artist is entitled to half of licenses which is a far more bigger share than the percentage of royalties from record sales, in my opinion this means we can expect a number of artists to file suit against their record labels in the near future.
Another legal controversy surrounding the music industry are the record labels ongoing battle to secure rights for locking artists into 360 deals when they sign a recording contract. Since the labels are no longer making profits solely from record sales, it is now becoming a common procedure to sign artists to deals that take income from sponsorships, endorsements, products, books, etc. Any form of business that artists makes, the record company wants to be entitled to a portion of it. Entertainment lawyer Bob Donnelly thinks if artists have an opportunity to sign a 360 deal, then they should immediately contemplate on doing a 180 on them. He also believes, record labels are right to incorporate 360 deals in contracts, he states "Labels justify profiting from multiple rights because they are making a substantial investment in the artist."(Donnelly, Buyers Beware.) personally, I believe that 360 deals are unfair to the artist, especially if the artist is performing average in record sales, if there was someway that the record label could recoup a small percentage from the 360 deals then maybe for the artist the deal will be worth negotiating.
Lastly, a legal controversy with sampling music has forced websites like google and YouTube to audit, and refrain certain music not allowed by the artist or label to be viewed on the website. Lawsuits between the sites have forced YouTube to no longer allow persons to download music samples, instrumentals or the use of certain remakes to be viewed due to infringement. Most recently, Viacom sued YouTube for releasing material on their site stating, youtube's motive was to gain popularity and not rightfully license the use of materials. Ultimately Viacom lost the suit, included in a 39 page document of the ruling states “A reasonable jury could find that YouTube had actual knowledge or awareness of specific infringing activity on its website.” (Limer, 2011.) My take on this case is that YouTube cannot stop everyone of its users from downloading material or uploading remakes of works that are sampled, in my opinion it's out of their control, however I do think the company has been proactive in trying to limit infringement from happening because now it's nearly impossible to upload videos with cover songs or material with works of popular artists contained in them.
In conclusion, the music industry is far from winning the battle of music theft, but it is clear they are taking necessary steps onto building the foundation of a new music era thrived by the internet, media, and digital downloading. Along its road to recovery, the battle of legal controversies the industry faces will no time soon seize to end.
References
Bennet, H. T. (2011, April 8). Rick James Estate's Class-Action Suit Against Universal: An Entertainment Attorney Weighs In. Retrieved from http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/rick-james-estate-s-class-action-suit-against-1005122802.story. May 5, 2012.
Donnelly, B. Buyer beware why artist should do a 180 on 360 deals. Retrieved from http://www.lommen.com/pdf/Bob-Donnelly-Billboard-360-Article.aspx. May 5, 2012.
Limer, E. (2012, April 5). Viacom’s Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against YouTube Goes Forward, Threatening DMCA’s Few Useful Qualities. Retrieved from http://www.geekosystem.com/viacom-youtube-lawsuit-raised/. May 5, 2012.
Lastly, a legal controversy with sampling music has forced websites like google and YouTube to audit, and refrain certain music not allowed by the artist or label to be viewed on the website. Lawsuits between the sites have forced YouTube to no longer allow persons to download music samples, instrumentals or the use of certain remakes to be viewed due to infringement. Most recently, Viacom sued YouTube for releasing material on their site stating, youtube's motive was to gain popularity and not rightfully license the use of materials. Ultimately Viacom lost the suit, included in a 39 page document of the ruling states “A reasonable jury could find that YouTube had actual knowledge or awareness of specific infringing activity on its website.” (Limer, 2011.) My take on this case is that YouTube cannot stop everyone of its users from downloading material or uploading remakes of works that are sampled, in my opinion it's out of their control, however I do think the company has been proactive in trying to limit infringement from happening because now it's nearly impossible to upload videos with cover songs or material with works of popular artists contained in them.
In conclusion, the music industry is far from winning the battle of music theft, but it is clear they are taking necessary steps onto building the foundation of a new music era thrived by the internet, media, and digital downloading. Along its road to recovery, the battle of legal controversies the industry faces will no time soon seize to end.
References
Bennet, H. T. (2011, April 8). Rick James Estate's Class-Action Suit Against Universal: An Entertainment Attorney Weighs In. Retrieved from http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/rick-james-estate-s-class-action-suit-against-1005122802.story. May 5, 2012.
Donnelly, B. Buyer beware why artist should do a 180 on 360 deals. Retrieved from http://www.lommen.com/pdf/Bob-Donnelly-Billboard-360-Article.aspx. May 5, 2012.
Limer, E. (2012, April 5). Viacom’s Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against YouTube Goes Forward, Threatening DMCA’s Few Useful Qualities. Retrieved from http://www.geekosystem.com/viacom-youtube-lawsuit-raised/. May 5, 2012.
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