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 [...]
Is it time for Congress to draft a replacement for the 1976 Copyright Law? In point of fact, the law was drafted almost half a decade ago now and its last major amendment came in 1998 with the addition of the DMCA. Many argue that the advent of digital technology, driven of course by the [...]
Since before the day that Napster was a twinkle in Sean Parker’s eye – well over a decade ago now – the legal and music industries have each struggled with ways to cope with and transform their dusty old business models from the physical status quo to the digital revolution.
My friend and client, Dr. Jimmy Eugene Pollard, performed a sampling of his music in front of a sold-out crowd, performing as the opening act for Gary Allan’s immensely successful Get Off On the Pain tour. The Pavillion at the Coushatta Casino Resort welcomed over 4000 people for the February 19th event. Allan’s tour has [...]
I have often advised my clients in the past that the new direction for independent artists is what I refer to as "guerilla" marketing, meaning finding alternative means of marketing your product. One of the most explosive methods of doing that over the past few years has been the Internet. One of the problems with [...]
