3 Count: Underpaid Royalties

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1: Songwriters & Publishers Due Nearly $400M After Final Streaming Royalty Rate Determination

First off today, Chris Eggertsen at Billboard reports that the Copyright Royalty Board has ruled that digital music service providers underpaid songwriters and publishers by over $400 million dollars between 2021 and 2022, setting the stage for a huge windfall for composers and their representatives.

The new report examines mechanical and performance royalties owed by streaming services. Such royalties are compulsory, however, the rates are set by the Copyright Royalty Board, which regularly makes determinations about what royalty rates should be paid for such uses.

In their latest determination, they found that during 2021-2022 period, digital service providers underpaid rightsholders by over $419 million. However, they also found that the providers overpaid for royalties during the 2018-2020 period by nearly $29 million. As such, the total amount owed is roughly $390 million and is to be paid by streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music among others.

2: Japanese Publishers to Sue US Firm Over Manga Piracy

Next up today, the AFP reports that a group of four major Japanese manga publishers have filed announced plants to file a lawsuit against the US content delivery network provider Cloudflare over allegations that the service is enabling pirate websites.

The lawsuit will be filed by Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan and Kadokawa, the four leading manga publishers in Japan. They accuse Cloudflare of aiding pirate websites and refusing to stop serving the sites when notified of the infringement.

The same four companies reached a settlement with Cloudflare in 2019, which saw Cloudflare agree to stop providing services for a pirate website. This time around, the publishers are seeking 400 million yen ($3.5 million) in damages.

3: Sony Music Settles Rock Musicians’ Lawsuit Over Copyrights

Finally today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that Sony Music has reached a settlement with New York Dolls singer Davis Johansen as well as other musicians who sought to reclaim their copyrights from the company.

Under United States law, original creators can seek to terminate previous licensing agreements after a period of time. This allows them to regain control of their work and either exploit it directly or seek out new partnerships. A group of musicians filed such a motion and sued Sony Music in 2019 after Sony rejected the termination notice, saying that provision didn’t apply to the musicians involved.

The case has been on pause since 2021 due to settlement discussions and now it appears that the two sides have reached an agreement. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

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