Shmoozic Biz

In this episode, music attorney Tim Kappel speaks with Shmoozic Biz about his David and Goliath battle likely to go to the U.S. Supreme Court. There are billions at stake for music companies and investors who may get a big hit – and not the kind they like – if the high court decides music creators and their heirs can claw back their legacy catalogs worldwide. Tim and Bill break down the complicated but artist-compassionate statute that gives termination and reversion rights to authors and their heirs, no matter how bad the contract was they may have signed decades earlier. The implications for the music industry of worldwide terminations for legacy catalogs are in the billions annually. Bill also writes about this landmark legal showdown in Forbes.

Pop imposters are making bank off of sped-up and remixed versions of copyrighted tracks by the real Justin Bieber, Kendrick Lamar and Ariana Grande, among other pop stars. On this episode, Bill is joined by law colleagues Sami Kazi and Taylor Coley to breakdown why this activity is against the law and why major music labels just settled their $500 million lawsuit against music distributors TuneCore and Believe Music for allegedly profiting off these massive identify thefts. We also look at whether the recent Cox v Sony Supreme Court ruling letting the media company off the hook for not taking action after warnings from Sony about massive copyright infringements. Are TuneCore, Believe and these pop identity thieves also getting away with something? We break it down.  

Chapters: 

00:00 Introduction

01:00 Why Did UMG Sue Believe

02:30 How Crooks Steal Pop Song IDs

03:17 How Cox v Sony May Relate

04:47 The Safe Harbor's Not So Safe

06:64 Sec. 512 of the DMCA's Scope

08:40 Should Distributors Be Liable?

09:37 Who is Jutin Biber? 

10:17 Trademark Claims Too

11:34 Looking to the Future

For news, views and shmooze you can use about the business and law of music subscribe to Shmoozic Biz with Bill Hochberg on YouTube and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Spotify and Apple Music.  

Bill Hochberg is a music and media lawyer at Raines Feldman Littrell LLP and he writes regularly in Forbes on the business and law of music. 

DISCLAIMER: This program and the associated written materials are provided for informational purposes only and are not intended, and must not be taken, as legal advice on any particular set of facts or circumstances. You should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of any content included in this program without seeking legal or other professional advice on your specific matter. This program contains general information and may not reflect current legal developments or address your specific situation. This program and the associated written materials are not intended as a solicitation.

Our musical theme is "8 Church Birds" by billeeto. https://tinyurl.com/billeeto

In this episode, host Bill Hochberg talks with his A-list panel about how it is that songs from Bruno Mars’ new #1 album “The Romantic” sound so much like classic hits of the 70s but apparently he's not worried about copyright infringement lawsuits. After the “Blurred Lines” case where Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke lost big time against the Marvin Gaye estate, even when there were no direct parallels between any parts of the melodies, harmonies or lyrics, many in the music biz feared copyright infringement suits even for the slightest similarities… Even crowd noises or high hat cymbal beats seemed fertile grounds for a multi million dollar lawsuit.

But then along came our guest Peter Anderson of Davis Wright Tremaine, who won the landmark “Stairway to Heaven” case, successfully defending Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant against copyright infringement charges in federal district court and on appeal. Peter has also represented the Weeknd, Miley Cyrus, and many other top stars. 

Peter won, even though “Stairway to Heaven” shares identical chords and bass line in certain spots with the plaintiff’s song.  That case helped re-establish the pre-“Blurred Lines” common sense where common musical elements are seen as “building blocks” of music that can’t be horded by anyone. Next you had defensive wins by Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry (on appeal) and others… and finally, that takes us to Bruno Mars’ latest outing that, according to the Guardian and others, has songs that are obviously super similar to classic hits of the past.  But nowadays, it seems you can borrow a vibe and yet not cross the line into a copyright courtroom catastrophe. 

Peter and Bill are also joined in the convo by top music transactional attorney Brigitte Alanis, attorney for Alex Warren, whose song “Ordinary” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks last year, Victoria Monet, and whose firm King Holmes Paterno and Soriano also represents Dr. Dre, Metallica and many other superstars of music. 

Finally, Bill is joined by Lee Knife, the former head of DiMA, the trade organization that rep’d Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube and other streaming giants.

Bill Hochberg is a music and media lawyer at Raines Feldman and Littrell and he writes regularly in Forbes on the business and law of music.

Our musical theme is "8 Church Birds" by billeeto, available on Spotify.

NO LEGAL ADVICE IS BEING PRESENTED IN THE PODCAST.

What began as a messy business dispute between legendary production partners Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams has escalated into a much stranger fight: who actually created the music behind The Neptunes.

In the full episode of the Shmoozic Biz podcast, music attorney and journalist Bill Hochberg and his associate Sami Kazi break down the amended lawsuit Hugo filed against Pharrell Williams — and why the case now raises serious copyright ownership questions.

Originally filed as a partnership dispute over roughly $1 million in unpaid proceeds, the lawsuit has now been expanded to include copyright claims involving eight songs, including tracks from Rosalía’s Motomami album.

Beyond the legal fight, the case also raises a provocative question about modern pop production: who actually creates the music—and who gets the credit?

You can also read more about the case in my Forbes article here: https://tinyurl.com/2p9kdb6v

Musical theme is "8 Church Birds" by Billeeto. https://tinyurl.com/billeeto

In this episode we go from Suno Stars to Bruno Mars and what every music pro should know about AI copyrights. Bill's joined by Peter Anderson, superstar litigator for the Weeknd, Cardi B, Led Zep's Plant & Page; Brigitte Alanis, transactional lawyer for Alex Warren and Victoria Monet, and Lee Knife, former head of DiMA, the trade org for Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music and more. From Suno to Bruno Mars, it's a fascinating convo about how we protect music and whether that should change.

Dina LaPolt is one of the best-known music lawyers and she’s locked in an ugly legal fight with a young lawyer who used to work for her. It seems to revolve around a music licensing screw-up with both lawyers pointing the fingers at each other. One attorney accuses the other of defamation, the other shoots back with a civil rights wrongful termination lawsuit and muddy accusations of all kinds fly back and forth.

We don’t take a position on who’s right and who’s wrong in this legal mess. Instead, we strive to derive a teachable moment. And we discuss just what the all-important synchronization license is.  Why do you need one? How do you properly secure one? What happens if you don’t?  Those are key questions we delve into on this episode that we hope will help others avoid this kind of frightful fight caught in a courtroom spotlight.

Our musical theme is "8 Church Birds" by billeeto. https://tinyurl.com/billeeto

Chapters:

00:00 Teaser

00:41 Intro

01:24 Finger Pointing

03:12 What Do The Complaints Say?

03:50 What Is A Synch License?

08:09 Who Are Synch Agents?  

09:17 Platform Blanket Licenses

10:15 Off Platform Usages

12:01 Group Chat Becomes Evidence

13:40 Benefit Of The Doubt

14:31 How To Avoid This Problem

14:58 Pulling The Blanket Up

16:25 Outro

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Is Chad Hugo saying Pharrell Williams is not really a musician? On this episode we explore in depth the courtroom battle between members of the once toppermost pop music production duo the Neptunes, and we gain some teachable moments for those interested in the law and business of music. Bill Hochberg is joined by his associate Sami Kazi to get the down low and the high up on this interesting case.