Ask Music Lawyer

I’m not sure if you’ve heard the buzz behind singer Nina Simone’s estate and her former label, RCA, which is now Sony, but they have been an extensive legal battle for a couple years now regarding the rights in her music. The parties, which include Nina’s lawyer, ex-husband (“Nina’s Team”) and Sony Music, reached a settlement last fall, but Sony recently sought to rescind the settlement agreement, alleging that the other parties have failed to live up to the agreement. At iss

Ask Music Lawyer.com will be hosting a Launch Party and Book Signing event at Suite Lounge, Atlanta by Kendall Minter Author of the aclaimed 'Understanding and Negotiating 360 ° Ancilliary Rights Deals". Address: 375 Luckie St NW, Atlanta, GA 30313 Date: 10th June 2015 Time 6PM to 8PM

Music piracy is no longer an issue thanks to streaming; let the Spotify music executives tell it. They are almost of the belief that they single-handedly eliminated the issue of music piracy by providing their digital content streaming subscription service to the masses. According to Spotify’s Director Economics, Spotify’s streaming service has accounted for one out of every ten dollars earned by the major record labels this first quarter, compared to a similar result for the

As you may have read, the US Court of Appeals ruled in ASCAP's appeal of the Pandora rate court decision, affirming Judge Cote’s original ruling on both partial withdrawals and the Pandora rate. “This ruling reaffirms what we already know – that the ASCAP Consent Decree and the rules that govern music licensing are outdated and completely out of step with the way people listen to music today. This is a wake up call for creators to stand together, get involved and fight for th

Want to know more about the 360° Deal? On Friday May15th 2.30pm at the SAE Institute Atlanta, world-renowned entertainment attorney, Kendall Minter Esq. will be giving a break down of the 360° Deal and giving insights into how to negotiate the best contracts possible.

Image via Seagram’s Gin The lawsuit over Robin Thicke and Pharrell‘s “Blurred Lines” has caused a ripple effect throughout the industry in terms of trying to compensate anyone who might have been involved with or inspired the making of a song—especially if it’s a big hit. Just ask Mark Ronson. His smash single with Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk,” has generated a lot of publishing revenue, from 5.5 million downloads, physical album sales, and YouTube video streams. So who’s getting

Saying as how I’m one of the very few people left on the earth who actually buys CD’s, I guess it’s no wonder I have never heard of Grooveshark while they were still in business. For those of you who are familiar with it and subscribed to its services, Grooveshark is no more. They have been shut down! So apparently, Grooveshark, which came out in 2007, was an online music streaming service that allowed its users to play virtually any song they wanted to hear for free. Imagine

Music service to wipe its computer servers clean, transfer ownership of website, mobile apps and other intellectual property WASHINGTON, DC – Escape Media, the parent company of the infringing Grooveshark music service, has agreed to a legal settlement with the major record companies that includes the termination of all operations, wiping its computer servers of all the record companies’ music, and surrendering ownership of its website, mobile apps and intellectual property.

Just two weeks ago, hundreds of music creators came to Washington, DC for GRAMMYs on the Hill to advocate for fair pay for songwriters, artists, and studio professionals. Then hundreds more of you flooded Congress with e-mails with the same message. We’re excited to tell you that Washington is hearing you loud and clear. Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee held its last hearing on copyright law. The witness, U.S. Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante (who has personally