A recent legal dispute between singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman and rapper Nicki Minaj has shed light on an interesting issue in the field of copyright and music: whether musical artists “can be held liable for copyright infringement for works in progress”…
As fitness companies transform into entertainment companies, new licensing issues arise regarding music in an at-home work-out video versus music heard in an in-person gym class. Specifically, the usage of music in a gym class requires a public performance license…
The fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic this past year has been economically devastating for nearly every industry and market, but it has hit the arts and entertainment sectors especially hard. The impacts of long-term lockdown and the resulting recession will…
The music industry’s widely anticipated Mechanical Licensing Collective (“MLC”) officially went into effect at the beginning of January 2021. The MLC, which was created via the passage of the Music Modernization Act (“MMA”) in 2018, was created to administer a…
Music legend John Lennon, former Beatles star, once sung the words “you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”[1] These words, which make up the chorus for one of his most famous songs, Imagine, have a…
The Supreme Court’s ruling this past summer in Matal v. Tam was more than just a decision on the titles that could be used when registering one’s mark, it was also a vindication to those whom slurs have been used…
The well-known podcast personality Daryl Campbell a.k.a. Taxstone was recently arrested on January 16, 2017 on federal charges of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and Receipt of a Firearm in Interstate Commerce.[1] The arrest is related to…
In continuation of an ongoing battle, the Department of Justice has filed a notice that it will appeal the September 2016 decision by Judge Stanton which concluded that fractional licensing is allowed under the current Broadcast Music, Inc. (“BMI”) consent decree.[1] Back…
Is it unreasonable for deaf moviegoers to expect that song lyrics might be included in film captions and subtitles? On Wednesday, September 28, 2016, a California District court found that it was, when it granted summary judgment to a group…
On September 29, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to revisit a controversial issue surrounding the federal government’s ban on offensive trademarks, specifically whether this ban violates free speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Federal…
Tatsuya Adachi is Editor-in-Chief of the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, Vol. 34, and J.D. Candidate, 2016, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Introduction Flo & Eddie—performers of the Turtles’ hit record “Happy Together”—have recently been engaging in…
In 2014, Canadian recording artist Kiesza released the music video for “Hideaway,” which later became a number one song. The video, which has over 300 million views on YouTube and has been nominated for numerous awards, features the artist dancing…
