Welcome to Entertainment Law & Biz Roundup a monthly newsletter exploring the legal and business highlights of the entertainment industry as seen through the eyes of entertainment & business attorney Eldonie S Mason Esq. One of the keys to being successful in the entertainment industry is to know the business of entertainment and law which affects it. This newsletter will bridge the information gap and endeavor to keep you informed and entertained. We welcome your suggestions about topics that maybe of interest to you. Happy reading!
Film Business
Diversity Reigns Supreme at Sundance
A few weeks after the Oscar nominations ignited the diversity debate and led to #OscarsSoWhite trending on twitter, a predominantly African-American film made history by setting off a bidding war at Sundance and collecting one of the highest purchase price to date. The film "Birth of a Nation" about the slave revolt led by Nat Turner is written, produced, directed by and stars Nate Parker. This film took him seven years to make and from the bidding war the final cut set off it was well worth the time and effort. This is a note to all independent filmmakers never give up! Read the full story at The Wrap
Music Business
Music Artists and Rights Holders Rejoice an Increase in Royalties is Coming
The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which is the government agency in charge of setting the standard royalty rates, issued new royalty rates in December 2015 that goes into effect this year. For 2016 digital streaming services must pay the following rates: for non-subscribers $0.17 per 100 songs, for subscribers $0.22 per 100 songs. After that, annual rate increases will be determined by the consumer price index until 2020. Overall, this year, rights holders and music artists will see an increase in royalties received from non-subscribers and a slight decrease from subscribers. Details at Lexology
Inside the Law of Entertainment
You Must do This Before Sending a DMCA Takedown Notice
The dancing baby video "Let's go crazy #1" lit up YouTube back in 2007. Little did Stephanie Lenz know that her 30 second video and story would be forever immortalized in the halls of copyright jurisprudence.
Adorable baby videos on YouTube are nothing new and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices are common place and routine. However, when Lenz received notice that Universal had filled a DMCA takedown notice with YouTube claiming she did not have a right to use the clip of Prince's song in the video, she did not go quietly into the night.
Instead she retained counsel and went on the offensive challenging the validity of the DMCA notice claiming her use was fair. After several back and forth with YouTube, she decided to go for the Hail Mary play and brought suit against Universal. After parts of her case were dismissed, she brought a single claim for misrepresentation under § 512(f) of the DMCA claiming that Universal violated the section and as a result she was entitled to damages.
After years of litigation, the court ruled in her favor and placed a burden on content owners that before they send out a DMCA notice they must do a fair use analysis to determine whether the use was fair.
As a result, every content owner must take note and keep this case at the forefront of their minds or risk paying thousands in damages. More at Lexology
