Recently, on December 12, 2023, the Copyright Royalty Judges announced a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase in the mechanical royalty rates for the 17 U.S.C. §115 statutory license for making and distributing phonorecords of nondramatic musical works regarding physical phonorecords and Permanent Downloads. The new rate is 12.40 cents per reproduction or 2.39 cents per [...]
Last week, I was so honored to see many of the members of the NaSHOF at our Hall of Fame Reunion Lunch, held at Ray Stevens’ Cabaray Showroom on December 7. The annual event is always one of my favorite, next to the NaSHOF Gala, and it is always good to see old friends [...]
Written by Maddie Westrup Amidst the rise of “streaming” the music industry has faced immense innovation in recent years, not the least of which is the total rebuild of Section 115 and the mechanical licensing portion of the 1976 Copyright Act, thanks to the Music Modernization Act which is being implemented as this is [...]
Yesterday I had the honor of attending the announcement of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame's 2018 inductees, Ronnie Dunn, K.T. Oslin, Byron Hill, Wayne Kirkpatrick and Joe Melson. I am so honored to serve as general counsel for this outstanding organization and serve with president Pat Alger, executive director Mark Ford, and all of [...]
Shrum & Associates’ very own namesake, Barry Neil Shrum, Esquire, was recently appointed to serve as general counsel for the Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, and to serve as a non-voting member of its Board of Directors. The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation (NaSHOF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring and preserving [...]
The first of the month (August 2016), the Department of Justice issued a summary of findings with regard to two court orders that govern the operation of two of the U.S. performing rights organizations (the “PRO’s”), ASCAP and BMI. If it stands, the decision will also affect the third PRO, SESAC.Songwriters and music publishers around [...]
Since taking over Mary Beth Peters as Register of Copyrights in 2011, Maria Pallante has been listening and responding to the concerns of a number of her constituents, particularly those in the music industry, and it most certainly shows. In the last few months, several pieces of work product have been delivered by the Copyright [...]
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams spent 2013 on the top of the charts with their hit Blurred Lines, but due to allegations of copyright infringement suit leveled by the children of legendary singer Marvin Gaye they also spent much of 2014 in a court proceedings. And did they put on a show. The saga began [...]
You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. As it does every year, this new year marks a new beginning. I plan to continue my Twitter series entitled #creativity, so if you don’t already, follow me there @bshrum, or on any of the social networking platforms. However, [...]
By guest author Mallory Trice In 1926, the Warner Bros. studio in Hollywood introduced sound to film for the very first time causing a wave throughout Hollywood and around the globe as other major studios began the switch to "talkies" (pictures with sound). [1] The world of film and sound had become one, and [...]
