German Rights Society GEMA Squeezes YouTube
The fight between YouTube and the German collection society GEMA is heading into the next round. GEMA announced today (Sept. 30) that they will file a case for principal proceedings in the next few weeks against YouTube. GEMA’s legal challenge aims to prevent YouTube from making 75 compositions available online. The video site’s license with GEMA expired March 2009. Negotiations for a new agreement have stalled.
- GEMA and YouTube to return to court
It’s interesting to note that YouTube was able, on the other hand, to reach a deal with French collection society SACEM. That deal applies retroactively to all works since YouTube’s launch in France in 2007.
Bug Music Acquires Worldwide Rights To Saban Music Group’s Publishing Catalog
Bug Music, one of the world’s largest independent music publishers, and Saban Capital Group, Inc. (“SCG”), a private investment firm specializing in the media, entertainment and communications industries, announced today that Bug Music has acquired the worldwide rights to the Saban Music Group’s (“SMG”) extensive music publishing catalog. With this transaction, Bug Music will control the worldwide rights to SMG’s complete music library and further the company’s strategy of acquiring high-profile music copyrights licensable across multiple media platforms. The extensive purchased catalog includes material from leading children’s franchises such as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers‚ Digimon, The Addams Family, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Generation, Princess Sissi and Walter Melon properties, and encompasses a slate of theme songs, cues and scores from more than 90 television series, 3,700 television episodes and 100 made-for-television films and specials.
- Bug Music Acquires Worldwide Rights To Saban Music Group’s Publishing Catalog
Too Many Good Shows
For some reason, an amazing slew of shows is headed our way in an action-packed one-week period. I want to go to all of these shows, and in San Francisco, that’s just not possible. I can’t deal with this. Too many good shows, too many good bands. Send me a CD if you want to remind me of your existence, but get me in front of the stage if you want me to fall in love.
Land of Talk @ Yoshi’s – Oct. 7
The Boxer Rebellion @ 333 Ritch – Oct. 7
Aimee Mann @ Yoshi’s – Oct. 8
Frightened Rabbit @ The Fillmore – Oct. 10
Liz Phair @ The Independent – Oct. 10
The Eels @ The Fillmore – Oct. 11
Teenage Fanclub @ The Fillmore – Oct. 12
Bettie Serveert @ Cafe Du Nord – Oct. 12
El Ten Eleven @ Bottom of the Hill – Oct. 12
Zoe Keating @ Yoshi’s – Oct. 12
- Annie
10 Christmas Songs You Thought Were Public Domain, But Aren’t
Some of the popular Christmas songs we know and love have fallen into the public domain, which means permission is not needed for use of the song. However there are a number of Christmas songs that, while popular and popularly thought of as public domain, are in fact copyrighted works. Here is a list of ten popular Christmas songs you may have thought were public domain, but actually are not.
Winter Wonderland
“Winter Wonderland” is a winter song that has been appropriated as a Christmas song despite its lack of a reference to the holiday. The song was co-written by Felix Bernard, Lon Smith, and Richard Smith in 1934 and was inspired by Richard Smith’s view of a snow-covered park in his hometown of Honesdale, Pennsylvania. “Winter Wonderland” is published by Warner Chappell Music Co and according to the ASCAP website is the most-played ASCAP-member-written holiday song of the previous five years.
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane in 1944 and first appeared in the musical “Meet Me in St. Louis” starring Judy Garland. The song originally had a somber tone, as it appeared in a scene in which a family is distraught over being forced from their home in St. Louis. After resisting pressure from Garland and her co-stars, Martin and Blane agreed to alter the lyrics to make the song more upbeat. The lyrics were altered in several other versions but the Judy Garland version is by far the most commonly recorded version. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is published by EMI Music Publishing.
White Christmas
Though it is known that Irving Berlin wrote the original version of “White Christmas”, the exact year that he wrote it is unclear. It is most commonly believed that he wrote it sitting poolside at the Biltmore hotel in Phoenix, Arizona in 1942, which is fitting given the lyrics of the song. The version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time with over fifty million copies sold worldwide. “White Christmas” is published by Imagem Music.
I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Written in 1943, one year after “White Christmas”, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” sailed to the top of the charts due in large part to the original version sung once again by Bing Crosby. The song was written by Buck Ram, Kim Gannon, and Walter Kent, who got the idea from soldiers in World War I and II. The soldiers originally thought that the wars would be over quickly and that they would be home for Christmastime. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is controlled by Gannon & Kent Music Company and the Piedmont Music Company.
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
“The Christmas Song”, more commonly known as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”, was written in 1944 by vocalist Mel Tormé and Robert Wells. The song is said to have inspired by Tormé’s desire to keep cool during an unusually hot summer and was first recorded in 1946 by The Nat King Cole Trio. “The Christmas Song” is published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
In the same vein as “The Christmas Song”, “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” was written in 1945 by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne during one of the hottest days on record in Los Angeles, California in hopes of creating a “cooler” mindset. Vaughn Monroe recorded the first version, which reached number one on the Billboard charts the following year. “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” is published by Warner-Chappell.
Jingle Bell Rock
“Jingle Bell Rock” was written by by two men who were not known primarily as musicians. Joseph Beal, a public relations executive, and James Boothe, a Texan in the advertising business, wrote the song in 1957 and it appeared for the first time that year in a release by Bobby Helms. The song is a mixture of the classic “Jingle Bells” and one of the most popular songs of the 1950’s, “Rock Around the Clock”. “Jingle Bell Rock” is published by Warner-Chappell as well.
Frosty The Snowman
Another one of the most popular Christmas songs incorrectly classified as public domain is “Frosty the Snowman”. Written in 1950 by Walter “Jack” Rollins and Steve Nelson, the song was first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys. Autry was chosen to be the first to record the song following the success of recording of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”. “Frosty the Snowman” is published by Warner-Chappell as well.
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” was written by Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie in 1934 and was first sung on Eddie Cantor’s Radio Show in November of the same year. By Christmastime of that year over 100,000 copies of sheet music and 400,000 copies of the single had been sold in the United States. “Santa Clause is Coming to Town is published by EMI Music Publishing.
The Little Drummer Boy
“The Little Drummer Boy” endured many lyrical changes before it became the most commonly used version that we hear today. Originally written by Katherine Davis in 1941, the song was entitled “Carol of the Drum” and was based on a Czech carol. In 1957 the song was re-arranged by Henry Onorati and once again in 1958 by Harry Simeone. The culmination of these arrangements birthed the current version of “Little Drummer Boy”, an arrangement which is also published by EMI.
- By Nathaniel Patchner
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Apple Settles Lawsuit Over Online Music Distribution Patent
Back in May, a patent troll called Sharing Sound sued a host of companies, alleging that all of them infringed on a (ridiculously broad) patent for online music distribution. Targets were Apple (iTunes), Microsoft (Zune), Napster, Rhapsody, Brilliant Digital Entertainment (Kazaa) and Sony / Sony Ericsson. Similar actions were filed a week earlier against Amazon, Netflix, Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble and GameStop. The patent being contested – U.S. Patent Number 6,247,130, titled “Distribution of musical products by a website vendor over the Internet” – would essentially prevent all these companies from using any type of online store environment which allows them to provide song previews, a shopping cart or even a music player. Most of the companies targeted in the lawsuit (apart from BDE and Rhapsody) have already moved to settle their dispute with Sharing Sound, which as far as I know has never managed to use its patented technology to produce anything, or at least not anything interesting. Apple has now become the latest defendant to settle the patent infringement allegations, which if enforced would have made it difficult for the company to continue running its successful iTunes store.
- Apple Settles Lawsuit Over Online Music Distribution Patent.