BeIN First to Use New Anti-Piracy Law to Block 18 Pirate Streaming Sites — Torrentfreak reports on the outcome of new French legislation that went into effect January 1, creating effective and proportionate remedies against illegal conduct. As noted, “Broadcaster beIN Sports has become the first company to obtain a pirate streaming site blocking order under new French legislation. The injunction requires local internet service providers to block access to 18 sites that offer live sporting events to the public without appropriate licensing. Any mirror sites that subsequently appear will be quickly blocked too.”
State Compulsory eBook and Audiobook Licensing Is Wrong on Law and Policy — Devlin Hartline writes, “there is an alarming new trend of states pursuing laws that would force publishers, many of whom are also authors, to grant licenses to public libraries for access to their digital works, such as eBooks and audiobooks. . . . Proponents of state compulsory licensing complain that libraries are being unfairly discriminated against, but this gets it wrong on both law and policy. More fundamentally, these proponents ignore the other side of the equation—the rights of publishers that undergird the creative ecosystem and ensure that libraries have works worth lending.”
Gloria Estefan presses House Judiciary on radio royalties bill — “The ‘Rhythm is Gonna Get You’ singer appeared at a virtual House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday to push lawmakers to pass the American Music Fairness Act, which would require radio stations to pay performers if they play their songs. ‘Each of the songs that are precious and meaningful to you was a labor of love for the songwriters, the artists, the musicians and producers that brought it to life. They poured their own hearts and souls into its creation. But when their music is played on the radio, artists don’t get paid, only the songwriters,’ Estefan, 64, said.”
Research Report Shows Negative Impact of Big Tech on Minority-Owned Media — “News Media Alliance Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Danielle Coffey, said, ‘We are currently facing a crisis in which our valued news publications are suffering from a dire lack of financial resources needed to survive. Two dominant tech companies – Google and Facebook – are forcing everyone to play by their rules, using news publishers’ content to fill their platforms without offering fair or adequate compensation. Without immediate intervention to correct this market imbalance, we run the risk of these publications – including minority-owned outlets – fading into history, their legacy forgotten, their future ability to provide critical, high-quality news to underrepresented communities going with them.”
HitPiece takes its NFT music platform down following artist outrage — “A website called HitPiece that has been selling music-related NFTs has temporarily closed after artists accused it of appropriating their work without permission, Rolling Stone has reported. Outraged social media posts were issued recently from artists including Jack Antonoff, Eve 6, and Sadie Dupuis. ‘Any [Bleachers] NFTs are fake,’ Tweeted Jack Antonoff. ‘I do not believe in NFTs so anything you see associated with me isn’t real.’ The HitPiece website is apparently built on top of Spotify’s API. Before shutting down, it appeared to be offering NFTs of songs and albums from the likes of John Lennon and BTS, including photos and album artwork, according to the Internet Archive.”