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| MONDAY 27 MARCH 2017 | COMPLETEMUSICUPDATE.COM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TODAY'S TOP STORY: Ah, the Digital Economy Bill, that old thing. Able to include anything vaguely digital, the latest DEB includes bits n pieces about both ticket touting and copyright. It's the latter bit that's in the news today after a group of campaigners, academics and lawyers wrote to the government on Friday expressing concern about the bit of the DEB that will ramp up the prison sentences for naughty copyright infringers who choose to do their naughty copyright infringement online... [READ MORE] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Campaigners say new piracy jail terms could be misused It's the latter bit that's in the news today after a group of campaigners, academics and lawyers wrote to the government on Friday expressing concern about the bit of the DEB that will ramp up the prison sentences for naughty copyright infringers who choose to do their naughty copyright infringement online. The proposal that those found guilty of criminal-level copyright infringement online be subject to the same potential jail terms as those found guilty of criminal-level copyright infringement in the physical world has been on the table for sometime. The argument goes that online operations involved in industrial-level infringement are potentially just as profitable and just as damaging as someone bootlegging CDs and DVDs on a commercial-level, so the potential prison sentences should be the same. To that end, the DEB will increase the maximum jail term for online infringers from two to ten years, so it is in line with physical copyright crimes. When talk about such an increase was first occurring in political circles there were, somewhat predictably, claims in the tech community that the entertainment industry was looking to lock up casual file-sharers for ten years. However, supporters of the rule change insisted that the increased sentences would only affect those accused of criminal-level copyright infringement, which usually assumes infringing activity on an industrial scale. Casual file-sharers - if targeted at all - would still be sued through the civil courts for damages, rather than being charged with a copyright crime that might now result in the tougher jail sentence. The new open letter, posted by Torrentfreak here and signed by academics from East Anglia, Essex, Strathclyde, Cardiff and Glasgow universities, among others, says that - as it is currently worded - the proposed new legislation doesn't provide certainty that the tough new sentencing would only apply to commercial-level copyright infringement. And that could result in the new measures being open to abuse. The problem, the letter says, is that criminal copyright infringement is defined too widely in the draft DEB, so in addition to covering infringement conducted in the "course of a business", it also covers any other activities that "cause a 'loss' or create a 'risk of a loss' to the copyright owner". That latter bit could pretty much cover any form of infringement, including downloading a single track without licence. Arguing that the proposed new rule could be in conflict with both European Union and European human rights law, the letter says: "As currently drafted, the DEB seems to be wide enough to encompass not-for-profit, small-scale online copyright infringement [as criminal infringement] which could lead to any individual spending ten years in prison for sharing a single file". The simple solution, the letter writers say, would be to insert 'commercial-level' before any use of the word 'loss'. Those pushing for the tougher sentencing for online infringement only intend such a thing to apply to commercial-level infringers so, in theory, shouldn't oppose the newly proposed amendment. Though some might fear that by narrowing the remit of the new rule, it provides get outs for those targeted with the new legislation down the line. The Digital Economy Bill will be back on the agenda in the House Of Lords on Wednesday. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rick Ross appears in court on kidnap charges As previously reported, Ross was arrested two years ago, along with his manager Nadrian James, accused of attacking former employees Jonathan Zamudio and Leo Caceres at his home in Atlanta, Georgia. Ross and James claim that they were acting in self-defence, after discovering that people unknown to them were being allowed into the rapper's home by the two workers. Things apparently came to a head when Ross confronted Zamudio. James has testified that it was Zamudio who struck first and denies that any kidnap took place. The case continues. -------------------------------------------------- Kanye West settles New Slaves sampling case According to the New York Post, West agreed to an out-of-court settlement two days before he was due to give a deposition in the case. Presser had been seeking $2.5 million in damages, claiming that West had used parts of his 1969 song 'Gyöngyhajú Lány' without permission for a large portion of the 'Yeezus' track. Presser apparently became aware of the use of his song when West's lawyers contacted him after 'New Slaves' was used in a promotional campaign for the rapper's 2013 tour dates. He says that the lawyers offered him a 48 hour deadline to agree to a deal and sent him a $10,000 advance, acceptance of which his lawsuit says would have provided "consent to West's unlawful use of the original composition". Instead, Presser refused the advance or the deal offered and continued to negotiation through to March last year, when he went legal. A trial was due to begin in May. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ole investment recapitalisation may lead to company sale "Ole has hired RCB Capitol to conduct a process to recapitalise the equity portion of Ole's capital structure", a spokesperson for the company told Billboard. "It is certainly possible that some party may suggest buying the company [but] that is not the intention of this process. Ole entered into a $500 million credit facility last summer. It remains well capitalised and will continue to operate as usual for the foreseeable future, including seeking acquisitions that make strategic sense". The company has made various acquisitions in recent years, fuelled by investment that largely came from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Fund. It is reported that this is the investor now seeking to move its money elsewhere. As mentioned by the company's spokesperson, Ole was granted a $500 million credit facility by a consortium of US and Canadian banks last September. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coachella offers identity protection to hacked customers As previously reported, the hack was reported last month and subsequently confirmed by the festival. At the time, it said that usernames, first and last names, shipping addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth had been taken during the attack, though no passwords or financial information had been accessed. In a new page on the Goldenvoice website, offering more information on the attack and what to do if you are affected, the firm adds that ID uploaded to the website has also been taken. Customers are asked for information about their drivers licence, or other forms of identification, in order to verify who they are when they collect their wristbands. It is the people who had provided this information who are now being offered identity protection. "Certain individuals may be eligible to receive identity protection services from AllClear ID for twelve months at no cost to you", says the website. "These services include AllClear Identity Repair and AllClear Credit Monitoring. Only individuals with a driver's license or other form of ID in our database are eligible to receive these services at no cost". It adds: "We continue to investigate the security incident, in partnership with law enforcement and independent computer forensic investigators, to learn more and prevent a similar issue from occurring in the future. Though the security vulnerability has been remediated, we will continue to monitor the situation closely for any additional suspicious activity. Furthermore, we have applied important security updates to our systems and taken other proactive measures to help safeguard our services and protect your personal information". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CMU Insights to talk digital dollars at Tallin Music Week this weekend The CMU Insights session, at 1.15pm on Saturday, will provide a ten step guide to how streaming services are licensed and digital royalties paid based on the 'Dissecting The Digital Dollar' report we produced for the UK's Music Managers Forum. CMU MD and Business Editor Chris Cooke will lead the session, and talk through the various issues with the streaming business raised in the 'Digital Dollar' reports, before discussing possible solutions with Toomas Olljum, manager of Ewert And The Two Dragons and founder of 311.ee, an e-commerce platform for Estonian artists, and James Morgan, founder of Pieces of 8 Music, a boutique management and publishing company. The Digital Suite session will also include a presentation from Malena Wolfer at Believe Digital looking at how data pulled out of the digital platforms should be used to inform decisions, future marketing campaigns and each artist's business. TMW festivities kick off today, with the core showcase festival programme beginning on Thursday and the conference on Friday. The full conference programme is live here. -------------------------------------------------- Music charity Urban Development announces £600,000 of new funding The organisation provides a wide range of music education and talent development initiatives, with a skew towards urban music, and a particular focus on supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and creative talent in the black and minority ethnic communities. Its programme includes the monthly Industry Takeover Seminars at the Red Bull Studios that UD presents in partnership with CMU:DIY, the music business education programme that sits alongside the CMU media and consultancy business. "I'm proud to announce this new round of funding with thanks to all our funding partners", says Urban Development founder Pamela McCormick. "It will bolster Urban Development's continuing commitment to build a centre of excellence for UK urban music, while playing an integral role within the music industry as a whole". She continues: "With the various satellite projects Urban Development leads across the UK - whether it be the Industry Takeover All-Dayer, showcasing some of our incredible stable of artists at The Great Escape, or this summer's Urban Artist School - Urban Development's purpose is to develop, champion and educate this country's diverse, young musical talent and contribute to lasting change that will benefit the social mobility of underprivileged youth". UD alumni Devlin adds of the support the organisation provides: "Urban Development have provided me not only with the powerful support team and expertise a label and publisher would give, but also genuine care and consideration that only an organisation with social conscience and authentic passion and affinity with youth culture would have. Urban Development is important and gives young talent the opportunities to fulfil their potential, this benefits not just communities, but our music industry hugely". You will find more information on Urban Development here, and the monthly CMU:DIY x UD nights here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Faith Evans releases new Notorious BIG duet Due for release on 9 Jun, Evans' new LP features 25 songs that include vocals recorded by Biggie Smalls before his death in 1997. Together they tell the story of their life together from their meeting on a photoshoot in 1994, their marriage the following week, up to his murder. Various guests join her on the album, including Lil Kim, Busta Rhymes, DJ Premier, Salaam Remi and Smalls' mother Voletta Wallace. Two other songs have previously been released from the record, 'NYC' featuring Jadakiss and 'When We Party' featuring Snoop Dogg. Listen to new single, 'Ten Wife Commandments', here. -------------------------------------------------- London Grammar announce truthful new album "We are over the moon to announce that our second album 'Truth Is A Beautiful Thing' will be released on 9 Jun", say the band, basically just repeating what I already told you, like they think that you think I'm lying or something, the shits. "It's been a wonderful process and a long journey, so thanks especially to all those who waited. Now it culminates with us handing the music over to you. We can't wait for you to hear it in full". Yeah, whatever, they've upset me now. Here's their new single, the album's title track. Not sure if the band want to confirm that or whether you're all willing to trust me. Okay? Okay. Good. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rag N Bone Man, Section Boyz, Future Islands, more Other notable announcements and developments today... Â Rag N Bone Man's released the video for new single 'Skin'. So you can watch that now if you want. Â Section Boyz have released a new mixtape, 'Soundcheck'. It's nineteen new tracks, with production from Rudekid, HeavyTrackerz, Sx and Z Dot, among others. Â Future Islands have released a new track, 'Cave'. Their new album, 'The Far Field', is out on 7 Apr. Â Tei Shi has just released another new track from her debut album, 'Crawl Space', which is out this week. Here's 'Justify'. Â Spiral Stairs, aka ex-Pavement man Scott Kannberg, released his new album on Friday. Here's the video for new single 'Emoshuns'. Â Anathema are set to release new album 'The Optimist' on 9 Jun. "I suppose you might say the album is semi-autobiographical because this time we used a surrogate", says the band's Daniel Cavanagh says: "We put sound, feelings and crucially, our own hopes and fears into another person and made him the subject of the songs, then weaving my own internal monologue into the narrative of 'The Optimist'". Here's a trailer. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
There's a Harry Styles mystery to be solved! On Saturday, Styles posted three white images to his Instagram account, which has been dormant for months. Actually, last time he was active on there, he was posting blank images too. Though that was the tease a photoshoot for a magazine. However, this time there was a concurrent TV ad too. It aired during Saturday's episode of 'The Voice'. It shows Harry stepping out of a dark room into bright light, ending with a date splashed across the screen: 7 Apr. What could it all mean? Not another magazine shoot, surely. But could it be that there is new music on the way? Do we dare dream such a thing? Oh, the mystery! The mystery! Of course, this whole mystery thing is slightly ruined by whoever uploaded the advert to Styles's Vevo account titling it 'Harry Styles ad for debut single'. But maybe that's meant to throw us off the scent. And maybe throwing us off the scent is code that he's releasing a new perfume. Yes, that must be it. Last time he blanked out his Instagram account it was for the sight of a new photoshoot. The next obvious sense to cover is smell. Look out for a new Harry Style fragrance on Friday next week, you mark my words. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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