US court knocks back Canada's global injunction over IP infringement
A federal judge in California last week issued a preliminary injunction preventing Canada's Supreme Court from forcing Google to de-list a website on its American search engine. The ruling greatly limits the reach of a Canadian judgement that was widely welcomed by the music community as a step forward in helping copyright owners tackle online infringement.

The dispute that kickstarted all this wasn't a music case, rather one tech company - Equustek - accused another - Datalink - of infringing its intellectual property rights. When the court in the Canadian province of British Columbia started siding with Equustek, Datalink moved its operations out of said court's jurisdiction to a location unknown.

Equustek then asked to have Datalink de-listed from the Google search engine. This was done within Canada, but Equustek argued that the de-listing would only really work if its IP infringing rival was de-listed by Google on a global basis. And back in June the Canadian Supreme Court backed an injunction ordering such global de-listing.

The music industry, which has often seen copyright infringers move to jurisdictions where it is harder to enforce IP rights, welcomed the ruling. Trade body Music Canada said the judgement was "a crucial development given that the internet has largely dissolved boundaries between countries and allowed virtual wrongdoers to move from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in search of the weakest enforcement setting".

Google hit out at the ruling, arguing that the Canadian Supreme Court had no right to pass an injunction that applied globally, because its order to de-list Datalink might breach internet or free speech laws in other territories.

For example, maybe the First Amendment of the US constitution. Or Section 230 of America's Communications Decency Act, which has parallels to the copyright safe harbour in terms of reducing the liabilities of internet companies hosting or linking to other people's content or products, but with a wider remit.

The Supreme Court in Canada said such concerns were theoretical, but last week Google tried to prove that wasn't so by asking a court in California to issue an injunction stopping the forced removal of links to Datalink from its American search engine.

As previously reported, Google's legal rep stated: "This is about whether a trial court in a foreign country can implement a law that is violative of the core values of this country ... imagine if we got an order from North Korea that said we could not publish anything critical of Dear Leader. Imagine if Russia doesn't like what people are saying about Putin. It would be very dangerous to deny relief in this instance".

With no representatives of either Equustek or the Canadian Supreme Court in attendance, judge Edward Davila last week quickly complied with Google's request for a preliminary injunction in its favour on this issue. He agreed that "by forcing intermediaries to remove links to third-party material, the Canadian order undermines the policy goals of Section 230 and threatens free speech on the global internet".

Expanding on how Section 230 would have impacted on the Equustek v Datalink case, and Google's liabilities in relation to it, had the matter been heard in an American court room, the judge added: "Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act states that third-party internet hosts, such as Google, cannot be held liable for offensive or illegal material generated by other parties".

The dispute isn't entirely resolved with last week's injunction, and further legal wrangling is incoming. Though Davila's ruling does seem to limit the reach of June's Canadian judgement, which - of course - the music industry was so keen to welcome.

For its part, digital rights campaign group the Electronic Frontier Foundation welcomed last week's ruling, but said more needs to be done to stop other courts from issuing wide-ranging internet injunctions, like that issued by the Canadian Supreme Court in June.

In its commentary of the case, it wrote: "The California ruling is a ray of hope on the horizon after years of litigation, but it is far from a satisfying outcome. While we're glad to see the court in California recognise the rights afforded by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, most companies will not have the resources to mount this kind of international fight".

It went on: "If the current trend continues, many overbroad and unlawful orders will go unchallenged. Courts presented with a request for such an order must step up and require plaintiffs to meet a high burden - including proving that the requested order doesn't run contrary to the rights of everyone it will affect".

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There were Jedward japes galore when merch dispute got to Ireland's high court
Jedward last week settled a legal battle with an Irish businessman who claimed that the pop duo and their parents had made a number of commitments to him regarding a possible joint venture merchandise business.

There had already been a day's worth of proceedings in the Irish High Court before the settlement was reached. Patrick Noonan claimed that back in 2011 he had met with the parents of John and Edward Grimes to discuss launching various Jedward-branded items once their then current merch deal with Universal Music's Bravado reached its conclusion.

Noonan argued that agreements had been made and, as result, he paid for various items like Jedward wristbands and jigsaws to be made, while reserving a boardgame concept he had been working on for his Jedward JV.

But said joint venture never really got off the ground, and Noonan said he'd lost 625,000 euros on the deal, including what he'd spent on the merch he had already manufactured and the lost opportunity over this boardgame. For their part John Grimes and Susanna Condron denied any formal business agreements had ever been made with Noonan.

Quite what Jedward themselves thought about the whole debacle isn't clear, given they spent most of their time in court grinning for photos with their stern looking legal counsel and recording lip-syncing videos on Snapchat.

The latter behaviour, some have noted, sort of breaks protocol about how to behave in Ireland's Four Court's complex, which includes the High Court, and some rules about filming in the building too. Though a spokesperson for the court told the Irish Sun that, while such japes aren't "something we'd encourage people to do", because "they filmed themselves, and no one else, it's not a serious matter as far as we're concerned".

Though, take note all annoying pop duos embroiled in merchandise-related court proceedings, the spokesperson added: "Had the boys taken any footage within the courtroom itself, or of someone else within the Four Courts, then they'd be in trouble".

As for the formal proceedings, they came to a halt on day two once both parties told the judge hearing the case that a settlement had been reached overnight. Terms of the settlement are confidential.

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Tidal adds detailed credit info to millions of tracks
You may remember that when Jay-Z and his pop star buddies took control of Tidal back in 2015 they pledged that they would make it the artist-friendly streaming service. And it's perhaps with that in mind that it's now adding detailed liner notes to tracks and albums on its platform, responding to a key artist bug bear, especially in the songwriting community.

As previously reported, songwriters and record producers have long complained that the kind of detailed credits that were generally included on most physical releases of music have often been lost in the digital age. That makes it harder for fans to discover who wrote or produced their favourite records, while also arguably breaching the songwriter's moral right to attribution under copyright law.

The call for streaming services to address this issue has become increasingly vocal of late. Though one challenge is the good old music data problem, ie the lack of an official, decent, comprehensive and freely available database that identifies which songs are contained within what recordings, which artists perform on any one track, who wrote each song, and which labels, publishers and collecting societies released, published and represent the work.

That's not stopped Tidal rolling out its new liner notes feature, adding pretty detailed credits to many albums and tracks on its platform. The scheme goes as far as to include information on mastering and mixing, and who created the artwork. So pretty much what musos used to look for on the packaging of vinyl or CD releases. I wonder if they'll include the random thank yous. I always liked the random thank yous.

Commenting on its credits feature, Tidal said in a statement on Friday: "[We are] committed to bringing fans closer to their favourite musicians, as well as upholding the value of music and the contributions made by all artists. The Album and Track Info feature acknowledges the hard work of all the contributors that help make music for fans".

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vKontakte limits free streaming to push music subscriptions
Previously controversial Russian social media firm vKontakte is adding restrictions to free music streaming on its platform - and on a sister social network called Odnoklassniki - as it continues to try and grow a legitimate streaming music service in the country backed by the music industry.

As much previously reported, vKontakte was at one point a top enemy of the music industry, which argued that the social network didn't do enough to stop the rampant sharing of unlicensed music across its platform.

All three majors were, at one point, suing the social media business. But ultimately settlements were reached as the Russian digital firm, and its parent company Mail.ru, made commitments to launch a licensed royalty-paying music platform in its home country.

That service, including a new app called Boom, was fully launched back in May. And now, to drive more users to the paid-for option, limits are being put on the free music streaming that has been available of late on Mail.ru's social networks.

A spokesperson for the United Media Agency, which handles music licensing for the Mail.ru Group, told Billboard: "Free streaming in the background mode on VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and Boom will now be limited to 30 minutes a day. Users can remove the restrictions and get access to additional features by launching a paid subscription".

The paid-for option costs 149 rubles, which is just under £2. The music industry favours paid-for streaming rather than ad-funded free streaming, of course, because it generally generates much better royalties. It therefore backs any measures that might persuade more free users to sign up for paid-for options.

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Can BBC One's new pop music show survive in the noise of Friday night, asks CMU's Setlist podcast
This week's Setlist podcast from CMU discusses how music will play on Apple's new HomePod device, the hoo haa around anti-YouTube adverts on YouTube, and Sainsbury's new vinyl-only record label.

Before that though, presenters Andy Malt and Chris Cooke had some TV to catch up on - specifically the BBC's new prime time pop music show 'Sounds Like Friday Night'. Cooke started by wondering if the show will actually find an audience, given it's been placed in the exact slot that marked the beginning of the end for 'Top Of The Pops'.

"In that decade when 'Top Of The Pops' was slowly dying, they kept moving it around the schedule", he recalled. "So it used to be in the classic Thursday evening slot, and then they moved it to Friday on 7.30pm, before finally sticking it into Sunday night, which was a complete failure. But Friday at 7.30pm puts it up against 'Coronation Street'.

"I know we all think 'Coronation Street' is only watched by old people, but it's not", he continued. "It's watched by a lot of people of all ages. So, if you put it up against 'Coronation Street', that makes it really hard to find an audience".

Of course it maybe that the show's key target demographic is more likely to be watching it on the iPlayer anyway, making its actual first-airing slot less relevant. Though the show's name kind of limits the options for moving the new programme around the schedule, should the 7.30pm Friday evening timing not work.

"If it doesn't get an audience on Fridays, and they decide to move it to Tuesday night, well, they've kind of ruined it with the title, haven't they?" he said. "'Sounds Like Tuesday Night', that doesn't really make sense, does it? So it's a very brave title. I don't know if that means they're thinking [they'll do the initial] six episodes and then it'll be written off as a failure, or if they're very confident that not only is this going to be a successful new show in prime time, but it's going to run for a long time in this Friday night slot".

As for the content of the first edition of the programme, which aired on 27 Oct, Malt noted: "There was a lot of talking. A lot of talking. More talking that you would think in a 30 minute music show. It felt like there was 30 minutes of talking, but there were four song performances in there, so it can't have been. They showed a music video too, but only about 30 seconds of it, because there wasn't time, because they had to do more talking".

So it's quite chatty. And much of the chat comes from the programme's guest pop star host, who for the first episode was Jason Derulo. "The format really relies heavily on that guest pop star presenter being good at it", said Malt.

"Jason Derulo, luckily, was pretty good at it, and pretty funny. But anyone who's not good at it is going to destroy the show. There was a chat between him and Charlie Puth as well, which worked because they've toured together and they had a bit of camaraderie. But the moment you don't have that [it will fall apart]".

There were also comedy sketches, something the BBC really pushed when it first unveiled its new music programme, they being something that distinguish it from 'Top Of The Pops'.

It was the promise of comedy skits, said Cooke, that made him dubious of the new show before its launch. Having watched the first edition, Malt did little to dispel that concern, saying: "They did an out of the studio sketch with Dave Grohl, and he's a funny man, but that sketch was awful. The Dave Grohl sketch felt like it went on for a long time".

Episode two of the show went out on Friday night (how did you guess?), with guest host Liam Payne and a performance from Dizzee Rascal. But don't watch that, listen to this week's Setlist podcast instead here.

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MU events to consider sexual harassment and abuse in the music industry
In response to the increasingly vocal conversation that has been occurring about sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace, the Musicians' Union is staging two events to consider how it might be a catalyst for change in this area within the music industry.

The drop-in sessions will take place in Manchester and London with the aim of allowing "musicians to talk about their experiences with others working in the industry", and to "consider ways the MU could offer further support and be a catalyst for change".

Organisers add: "We will be discussing the kind of action that is required to protect musicians at work - be that as employed members of staff or freelancers - and looking at the measures that can be taken to improve workplaces across the industry. There will also be information available to take away on your rights, grievance procedures, discrimination claims and other practical ways to make complaints".

The events take place in Manchester tomorrow and next week in London. Details of how MU members can register to attend are online here.

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Wiley announces new album, Godfather II
As he released his autobiography, 'Eskiboy', last week, Wiley also announced that he will release a new album, 'Godfather II', in February. Kicking things off, he put out a new single, 'I Call The Shots', featuring JME.

As the title suggests, the album is the sequel to Wiley's 'Godfather' album, which was released way back in January this year.

Wiley has been very busy promoting that book over the last week, and slightly bizarrely ended up discussing grime on Radio 4's 'Today' programme. Check out that feature at 02:24 here.

'Godfather II' is out on 16 Feb. Listen to 'I Call The Shots' here.

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The Staves and yMusic announce collaborative album
The Staves have announced a new album, 'The Way Is Read', created in collaboration with chamber pop group yMusic.

Emily Staveley-Taylor says of the project: "Our aim from the outset was to truly collaborate with yMusic. We wanted to feel like instruments and join in with some of yMusic's existing work, using our voices in ways we hadn't previously explored".

She goes on: "We chopped up compositions and put them together again in new ways. We took old folk songs and made them abstract. The idea of forming an orchestra with these incredible musicians was fascinating. What we have ended up with is everything we'd hoped, more than we dreamed, and hopefully the tip of the iceberg".

Referencing the role of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon - who has previously worked with both outfits - in orchestrating this collaboration, Rob Moose of yMusic adds: "When Justin raised the possibility of our groups collaborating, we immediately upped the stakes by focusing on a combination of new Staves songs and transformations of yMusic's composed works".

He adds: "It was as much a thrill to hear songs emerge organically over sections of intricate chamber music as it was satisfying to strip songs of the instrument that created them, whether guitar or piano, in order to craft new connective tissue. This project was born of voice memos sent back and forth across the seas, two frenetic days in a Manhattan rehearsal space, a festival set, and a single day of recording in the woods outside of Eau Claire".

The album will be released on 24 Nov. Listen to album track 'Trouble On My Mind' here.

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BRIT Trust, Shania Twain, Miguel, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• The UK record industry's BRIT Trust has announced that it has now given out £20 million to worthy causes since 1989. The biggest beneficiaries are the BRIT School and music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins, with money also going to charities such as War Child and The Prince's Trust.

• Shania Twain is to appear as a guest character in mobile game 'Home Street'. Players will be able to interact with Twin's digital representation, and buy two outfits and a guitar for her. I hope this means something to you. Here's a trailer.

• Miguel has released new single, 'Told You So'. His new album, 'War & Leisure', is out on 1 Dec.

• Benjamin Clementine has released the video for 'Jupiter', taken from his excellent new album 'I Tell A Fly'. His UK tour begins at the end of this month.

• The Bug has announced a new double A-side single, which will include new tracks 'Bad' featuring Flowdan and 'Get Out The Way' featuring Killa P. It will be released on twelve-inch on 17 Nov. Here's 'Bad'. The Bug will also play Village Underground on 18 Nov.

• Fran Lobo has released new single, 'High'.

• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily - updated every Friday.

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Asda kiwi ban fails to save Harry Styles from another stage slip
Last week, Harry Styles was nearly killed and/or maimed after fans at a show in London started throwing kiwis onto the stage. In a selfless act that definitely wasn't a publicity stunt, a branch of Asda subsequently banned under-25s from buying the fruit before the former One Direction member's performance in Manchester.

As previously reported, Styles last week slipped on the kiwi which had been thrown on stage as some sort of signifier that its thrower would like him to play his song 'Kiwi'. This was not the only kiwi chucked at him by someone who doesn't understand the concept of setlists.

Fearing that Styles might not be so lucky to come away unscathed should the same kiwi throwing occur at his shows up north, Manchester's Hulme branch of Asda - less than a 30 minute walk from the Apollo venue where Styles was due to perform - banned anyone under the age of 25 from buying kiwifruit on Wednesday.

"We know our customers love Harry Styles and we feel it's our duty to protect a fellow Mancunian from any 'bad kiwis' amongst us", said an Asda spokesperson. "We'd hate to see a repeat of the mishap this evening, so to avoid any slippery situations, we feel this is a necessary measure".

Harry Styles isn't actually Mancunian. He's from Holmes Chapel, as we all know. And that's in Cheshire not Manchester. Which makes him Cheshian. Or maybe Holmes Chapian. Possibly Church Hulmian. Whatever, the ban didn't even work, because Styles ended up flat on his back when he slipped on a kiwi at the Manchester show.

Yes, somehow, people found alternative ways to get hold of the nuisance fruit. Perhaps one of Manchester's other Asda stores. Or the Co-op in Holmes Chapel.

As far as we are aware, Styles has not been floored by any further pieces of fruit since, though. The tour has now moved on to mainland Europe. Do they even have kiwifruits there? It's impossible to know.

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