Hip-Hop Clothier Trademark Suit

Case filed in Southern District of New York by Rocawear and Sean John, international clothiers to the hip-hop community, against various defendants for alleged infringement of plaintiffs' trademarks ROCAWEAR and SEAN JOHN.

[Christian Casey LLC; Sean John; Studio IP Holdings LLC; Rocawear v. A&E Stores Inc.; Forman Mills Inc.; Fat Albert's Warehouse Inc.; Albert Srour; Does 1-10. Filed 1/24/2008; case number CV-0870]

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. - Label Accused of Gender Discrimination

A complaint filed in New York Supreme Court alleges that Atlantic Records discriminated against plaintiff on the basis of her gender by paying male employees performing similar work higher salaries. Additionally, a VP at Atlantic allegedly referred to plaintiff as a "cunt".

[Mary Gormley v. Atlantic Recording Corp.; filed 1/23/2008; case number 08-101041]

P2P Suits (Indiana & Connect.)

More cookie-cutter copyright infringement cases based on defendant's alleged use of P2P network to distribute without authorization between 500-700 sound recordings.

[Capitol Records, Inc. et al. v. Bewick, case no. 4:08-cv-00002-JVB-PRC; filed 1/22/08; N.D. Ind.]
[UMG Recordings, Inc. et al. v. Holmes, case no. 3:08-cv-00125-MRK; filed 1/24/2008; D.Conn.]

CBS wants Last.fm to be First on Your Dial

CBS is adding on-demand, full-track streaming to its music social-networking site Last.fm. Free on-demands streams will be limited to three times per track, and cannot be downloaded to a portable player (e.g., an iPod).

Forbes notes that this is a "sign of the recording industry's growing interest in free, advertising-supported access to music". Yet, Last.fm plans to ultimately offer users a chance to purchase a monthly subscription allowing them to listen to songs as many times as they want.

Rolling Stone notes that the Last.fm deal with major record labels is heating up "the arms race" between Amazon and Apple iTunes.

Check Yo' Self

The New York Times reports a growth in 2007 of digital music sales, but "digital sales have yet to make up for the shortfall in sales of compact discs, and overall sales of recorded music fell about 10 percent last year".

The article also notes the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's plan "to step up a campaign to hold Internet providers responsible for stopping piracy over their networks".

[Eric Pfanner, "Digital Music Sales Grow, but at Slower Rate", The New York Times, at World Business (Jan. 25. 2008)]

More MP3 Choice - Yahoo!

Yahoo! is in preliminary discussions with major recording labels to offer a DRM-free (i.e., without copyright protection software) digital music down-load service. Amazon and iTunes: look out!

It is not yet clear whether Yahoo! will follow an a la carte purchase model, or a free-download/ad-supported model. OTCS opines that an ad-supported model would be a major shift in the digital download market. Given the death of the subscription model, is ad-supported "free" downloading the nail in the a la carte model's coffin? Time will tell.

The Economist Weighs In

A tipster forwarded this article from The Economist about the current state of the music industry and its shift "From major to minor". As the article concludes, "Some among their number, indeed, may not survive."

...Indeed...

Thanks tipster!

[The Economist, "From major to minor", Business section of the Jan 10, 2008 print edition.]

Another Day at the Races

Yesterday (1/22/08) was another busy day for the major record labels, with the filing in various federal courts of nineteen (19) copyright infringement actions against P2P users identified by their IP-addresses. Under these cookie-cutter complaints, plaintiffs seek injunctions, statutory damages under the Copyright Act, and legal fees.

At a quick glance, the number of alleged infringements range from approximately 400 recordings to nearly 2,000, and appear to all have occurred in 2007.

What is remarkable is that in each of the courts -- e.g., California Eastern District, Florida Middle District, Georgia Northern District -- the complaints are virtually identical!

With regards to the P2P portion, each had this to say:

Much of the unlawful distribution of copyrighted sound recordings over the
Internet occurs via "peer-to-peer" ("P2P") file copying networks or so-called
online media distribution systems. P2P networks, at least in their most
popular form, refer to computer systems or processes that enable Internet users
to search for files (including audio recordings) store on other users' computers
and transfer exact copies of files from one computer to another via the
Internet, which can include both downloading an exact copy of that file onto the
user's own computer and distributing an exact copy of that file to other
Internet users on the same P2P network. P2P networks enable users who
otherwise would have no connection with, or knowledge of, each other to provide
a sophisticated search mechanism by which users can locate these files for
downloading and to reproduce and distribute files off of their personal
computers.

Users of P2P networks who distribute files over a network can be identified
by using Internet Protocol ("IP") addresses because the unique IP address of the
computer offering the files for distribution can be captured by another user
during a search or a file transfer. Users of P2P networks can be
identified by their IP addresses because each computer or network device (such
as a router) that connects to a P2P network must have a unique IP address within
the Internet to deliver files from one computer or network device to
another. Two computers cannot effectively function if they are connected
to the Internet with the same IP address at the same time.

[**VERIFY ALL CITES**
California Eastern District:
BMG Music et al v. Espinoza; case 1:2008 00040
UMG Recordings, Inc. et al v. Higareda; case 1:2008 00039
Sony BMG Music Entertainment; case 1:2008 00041
Sony BMG Music Entertainment et al v. Evans; case 1:2008 cv 00109
Warner Bros. Records Inc. et al v. Kukendall; case 2008 00043
BMG Music et al v. Espinoza; case 1:2008 00044
Florida Middle District:
Priority Records LLC et al v. Hayes; case 3:2008cv00079
Georgia Middle District:
Zomba Recording LLC, a Delaware limited liability company et al v. Hughes; case 7:2008cv00012
Atlantic Recording Corporation et al v. Helmburg; case 5:2008cv00015
Georgia Southern District:
UMG Recordings, Inc. et al v. Emerson; case 4:2008cv00013
Mass. District:
Sony BMG Music Entertainment et al v. Crespo; case 1:2008cv10093
UMG Recordings, Inc. et al v. Saucier; case 4:2008cv40007
UMG Recordings, Inc. et al v. Straw; case 1:2008cv10092
Tennessee Middle District:
UMG Recordings, Inc. et al v. Adkins; case 3:2008cv00056
Capitol Records, Inc. et al v. Barbiere; case 3:2008cv00055
Warner Bros. Records Inc. et al v. Williams; case 3:2008cv00053
BMG Music et al v. Sharpe; case 3:2008cv00054
UMG Recordings, Inc. et al v. Farris; case 2:2008cv02027
Tennessee Eastern District:
UMG Recordings, Inc et al v. Bush; case 4:2008cv00007]

Rolling Stones Continue Movement Away from EMI

The Rolling Stones are in talks with Warner Music Group for the sale of the band's back-catalogue, currently exploited by EMI. The band's contract with EMI expires in May of 2008, and a sale of the back-catalogue would deprive EMI of approximately 3 million pounds annually.

The Spin Zone: EMI-style

With all the news swirling around EMI's financial woes last week, the label's press release does a remarkable job of spinning its restructuring into a positive response to the needs of consumers and artists. In fact, Guy Hands (EMI Group's Chairman), referred to the move as "a new revolutionary structure..."

Is that why all their marquee artists are leaving?

Chyrsalis On the Market

EMI, Sony ATV and Warner Music (Warner Chappell) have both offered bids for independent British publisher Chyrsalis -- whose roster includes David Bowie and Blondie.