New issue of Music & Copyright

The latest issue of Music & Copyright is now available for subscribers to download. Here are some of the highlights.

California appeal court reverses CBS summary judgment in pre-1972 remastering case
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has reversed a California district court’s ruling that the remastering of a sound recording effectively created a new version of that recording. The case was brought by a number of US record companies against the radio broadcaster CBS because the broadcaster had claimed that it was only broadcasting digitized versions of pre-1972 sound recordings, which it claimed were covered by federal copyright law. Pre-1972 recordings are covered by US state law and so are subject to different copyright protection. For a number of reasons, the appeal court decided that the creation of an authorized digital remastering of pre-1972 analog sound recordings that qualify as copyrightable derivative works does not bring the remastered sound recordings exclusively under the ambit of federal law. The case will now be sent back to the district court for new hearings.

SIAE reports growth for music rights, but fall in overall collections
Italian authors’ society SIAE has reported a fall in total collections after three straight years of growth. According to the authors’ society’s latest business report, total income, including rights collections, private copying remuneration, and revenue from other intermediation services, was down after three straight years of growth. However, the total was still the third-highest for SIAE. Of the four main rights sources, music was the only one to register growth. Cinema and literary works/visual arts both suffered a sharp fall in collections. Music rights were boosted by growth in general performance and live income, while broadcast collections were almost unchanged year on year. Digital music collections were up for the fifth consecutive year, but as a share of total income, the collection source remains very low.

ZAiKS celebrates centenary year with record collections
Polish authors’ society ZAiKS has reported a second successive annual increase in total collections. Celebrating its centenary year, the authors’ society said collections in 2017 topped the previous year’s record. In contrast, distributions edged down and there were marginal rises in both the administration rate and costs. Broadcasting is the biggest income source for ZAiKS ahead of public performance. Both revenue streams registered growth last year, but a sharp rise in cinema collections saw public performance increase its share of the overall collection total. Rising sales of digital music in Poland boosted digital collections, but a fall in sales of physical formats meant phonomechanicals suffered a decline. Foreign receipts increased year on year, but ZAiKS noted that overseas payments were low due to the lack of popularity of Polish music abroad.

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