London police drop controversial form 696
London's Metropolitan Police announced on Friday that, having had a jolly good think about it, it reckons the time is about right to axe its often controversial form 696, the bit of licensing bureaucracy which critics claimed discriminated against certain genres of music and certain ethnicities of music fan.

As much previously reported, form 696 asked for the names, stage names, addresses and phone numbers of all promoters and artists at events where pre-recorded backing tracks were used. An earlier version of the document also asked about the specific genre of music being performed and likely ethnic make-up of the audience, though those questions were dropped in 2009 after a number of artists and music industry groups campaigned against what was seen as racial profiling.

Nevertheless, concerns persisted about the form even in its revised state, the 'pre-recorded backing track' stipulation meaning it only really applied to certain genres.

With that in mind, earlier this year the government's Culture (now Digital) Minister Matt Hancock wrote to London mayor Sadiq Khan, stating: "I am concerned that the form is not only potentially stifling young artists and reducing the diversity of London's world-renowned musical offering, but is also having a negative impact on the city's night-time economy by pushing organisers and promoters of urban music events outside London".

In response, Khan consulted various interested parties and subsequently requested that the Metropolitan Police review its continued use of the form. And it's that review that has resulted in the police authority dropping the formal paperwork and adopting a new approach to policing music and clubbing events in the capital instead.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Met said: "The form 696 was originally introduced in 2005 in response to a number of shootings at promoted club nights across London. There is no doubt that over the last decade a number of serious incidents have been prevented through the effective exchange of information, advice and intelligence between the Met, promoters and venue managers as part of this process".

"However, we also recognise recent concerns raised by members of the London music industry", the statement went on. "Particularly around a perception that events associated with some genres of music were disproportionately affected by this process".

The police force's Roy Smith then added: "It is clear that in recent years the landscape of the night time economy in London has changed and thankfully we have seen a reduction in serious incidents at promoted music events, particularly those involving firearms".

"We have also been working in close partnership with the music industry and others to raise standards of safety in venues and at events", he continued, adding that, with that in mind, "we have taken the decision to remove the form 696 and instead develop a new voluntary partnership approach for venues and promoters across London. This will provide an excellent opportunity to share information at a local level and work to identify any enhanced risk to ensure the safety of the public".

The decision has been widely welcomed by the London music community and elsewhere. The Musicians' Union's National Organiser For Live Performance, Dave Webster, told reporters: "This news is most welcome and we are grateful to all stakeholders who have listened and responded. It is very good news that following meetings with the Metropolitan Police and the London Music Board, the Met chose to scrap the use of the form, and is developing more inclusive ways of ensuring safe gigs for everybody such as promoter forums and more integrated liaison with local councils and venue owners".

Meanwhile, Khan welcomed the move too, stating: "This decision will help London's night-time economy thrive, ensure the capital is a welcoming place for artists and DJs of all music genres, and that Londoners are able to enjoy live music safely".

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American web-blocking injunction unlikely to result in any web-blocking
The American courts may have just issued a landmark web-blocking injunction, but the organisation which secured that court order isn't planning on using it to instigate any web-blocks any time soon. Well, not in the conventional sense. Or at least that's what it says.

Quick recap. Web-blocking is a popular anti-piracy tactic within the music and movie industries in countries where such blockades are available. Internet service providers are ordered to block their customers from accessing websites that are deemed by the courts as primarily existing to encourage and facilitate copyright infringement.

However, while web-blocking is now available in a number of countries, that doesn't include the US where Congress abandoned plans for bespoke web-block laws in 2012 amidst high profile opposition from the tech sector. But then, earlier this month, a US court issued an injunction as part of a dispute between the American Chemical Society and Sci-Hub, a website that enables the illegal sharing of academic papers.

That injunction stated that "any person or entity in active concert or participation with defendant Sci-Hub and with notice of the injunction, including any internet search engines, web hosting and internet service providers, domain name registrars, and domain name registries" should "cease facilitating access" to the scientific piracy site.

It certainly sounds like a web-block injunction. However, ACS has said that it only plans to enforce the court order against entities which have a direct connection with Sci-Hub, so that's companies directly providing services to the piracy site, such as domain registries, server hosting companies and possibly providers like CloudFlare. For the time being at least ACS won't be demanding that search engines delist Sci-Hub, nor that ISPs block their customers from accessing it.

Soon after the court ruled in its favour, ACS issued a statement that both welcomed the judgement but also played down its reach and therefore its landmark status. The organisation said: "The court order applies to Sci-Hub and technical service providers that have a relationship with Sci-Hub, which is consistent with longstanding legal precedent. ACS will now begin enforcement accordingly".

Clarifying what it meant by that, ACS Director Glenn Ruskin told Torrentfreak last week: "The court's affirmative ruling does not apply to search engines writ large, but only to those entities who have been in active concert or participation with Sci-Hub, such as websites that host ACS content stolen by Sci-Hub".

So ACS won't be using the injunction to force all the major ISPs in America to start blocking access to Sci-Hub? "That is correct, unless the internet service provider has been in active concert or participation with Sci-Hub".

In which case, there'll be no web-blocking any time soon, despite the recent ruling. Though other copyright owners might still choose to interpret the wording of the Sci-Hub injunction more widely, and wonder whether a precedent has still been set that web-blocking can be achieved under current American law.

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Music publishers call on Canada to extend its copyright terms
The International Confederation Of Music Publishers swung by good ole Canada last week to suggest - maybe recommend - officially "request" - and possibly politely demand - that the country extend its copyright term for lyrics and musical compositions to life of the creator plus 70 years. It's currently life plus 50 years in Canada.

The trade body for music publishers confirmed it had "called on Canadian policy makers to increase the term of copyright to life plus 70 years in order to be in line with the standards currently prevailing elsewhere, in particular among Canada's main trading partners. Such harmonisation is key to achieve international consistency in the rules of copyright, which in turn improves the efficiency of copyright management and enforcement internationally".

Meanwhile, ICMP Chair Chris Butler said: "Music publishers play a key role in developing and preserving creative talent across the world. We spend a lot of money and time in bringing writers to market, and we are only able to invest if we can be compensated for our rights. Developing this talent is however an expensive business and at the moment, we have to think twice before investing in Canada as we need to focus on countries where we see more of a return on our investment".

The group's Director General Coco Carmona then added: "Canada is a major cultural nation, a G7 member and one of the world's largest economies. However, its current term of copyright protection puts investing in its creative talent at risk. If Canada wants to remain competitive, extending its term of protection for copyright is imperative".

Those of you with a vague recollection of Canada only recently increasing its copyright terms are thinking about the sound recording copyright, which was extended in 2015 from 50 to 70 years after release, bringing it in line with Europe. It's the separate copyrights in literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works - which are usually linked to the lifetimes of their creators - that enjoy a shorter term than in Europe.

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Media lawyers routinely attack free speech by misrepresenting the law, reckons Setlist podcast
This week's Setlist podcast from CMU kicks off with a discussion about Taylor Swift's recent legal wranglings with politics and pop culture blog PopFront. And talk quickly turned to the way some big media law firms sometimes misrepresent the law so to help their wealthy clients attack the free speech of others.

As previously reported, Swift made headlines last week when her lawyers sent a threatening letter to PopFront, an up-to-then fairly little read blog. It accused the blog's writer, Meghan Herning, of defamation, because she had published an article about how some members of the alt-right movement had expressed admiration for Swift's music. The blog post reviewed the way alt-right supporters had interpreted Swift's lyrics and also suggested that the video for 'Look What You Made Me Do' arguably used Nazi imagery.

Swift's lawyers demanded the piece be withdrawn and a retraction published. But
Herning instead took the letter to the American Civil Liberties Union, whose lawyers stated that there was no case for defamation in relation to the article. The writer had simply reviewed conversations that were already happening elsewhere and added some of her own opinions, all of which is perfectly within the bounds of the law.

While stressing that he is not commenting on this specific case, CMU's Chris Cooke nevertheless had some choice words for those media lawyers who do routinely send letters to blogs and independent media ordering that content be removed to avoid libel litigation, when the case for libel is, in fact, nonexistent.

"I'm not here to comment on this particular case", Cooke says. "But I do find the ACLU's arguments very compelling. And we ourselves have received legal letters on behalf of corporations or millionaire celebrities demanding content be removed, claiming defamation".

"Sometimes I read these letters and I am pretty damn sure that there is absolutely no case for libel", he goes on. "And I suspect that the lawyer doesn't think that there's a case for libel either. Which means they would never take this case to court, because they know there isn't a case to put before a judge".

He continues: "When studying for my law degree, I remember one of my lecturers remarking how, 'the law is open to everybody, just like the Ritz hotel is open to everybody'. You assume what these lawyers are doing is saying, 'Okay, we'll send this stern letter and we'll frighten them, or just for an easy life they'll take the content down, and then our millionaire celebrity client or our big corporation client will get what they want and - hurrah - we can bill them for that'".

"My perception on that is, if a lawyer is knowingly misrepresenting the law for the benefit of their millionaire client, that's just wrong", he says. "That shouldn't be allowed. And if the legal profession had any credibility, which it doesn't really, but any lawyer caught doing that - deliberately misrepresenting the law to force some content off the internet - they should be sacked. Because it's a blatant assault on free speech".

You can hear the full discussion on Taylor Swift's battle with PopFront, plus conversations about the threat of closure facing Bristol music venue Thekla, Tidal adding detailed credits to tracks and albums on its platform, and more, here.

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The Kids love discs, reckons eBay
While the streaming boom may be behind the record industry's return to growth, there's still an appetite for physical music product - whether new or second hand - and it's not just old people buying CDs and vinyl, by the way. Or at least that's what eBay reckons having surveyed 2000 consumers and reviewed musical purchases on its marketplace.

eBay recently launched a new hub in the UK for people selling physical entertainment products on its platform and - possibly in a bid to shut up all you Spotify-obsessed digital-only naysayers - it subsequently commissioned this bit of research. Which, glory be, definitely proves plenty of British consumers still love plastic discs. So that's good, isn't it?

According to eBay, of the 2000 shoppers it surveyed, 63% listen to music on a CD at least once a month and 39% had bought a CD in the last year. And of those surveyed who were aged 18-24, not only had 25% participated in the vinyl revival at some point in the last twelve months, 47% had bought a compact disc. A compact disc!

Say's eBay UK VP Rob Hattrell: "Music streaming may have become the norm, but our [research] shows people still want to own CDs and records, particularly with the strong music and DJ culture in the UK. Thirteen CDs and vinyl records were bought every minute on our marketplace over the last year, and we expect that number to rise as people shop entertainment for their Christmas stocking fillers".

eBay also reckons that The Kids are partly buying physical releases for mere bragging purposes. Though the web firm might have reached that conclusion simply to justify using that horrendous term 'shelfie' to describe consumers buying physical releases in order to share photos of their bookshelves that in turn show off their super fine music tastes.

"Digital natives are exhibiting a passion for physical media", eBay says when talking about its research. "This is driven in part by Instagram culture - epitomised by the rise of the 'shelfie' as a means of proclaiming our intellectual allegiances and cultural loyalties".

Hey eBay, if we all agree to believe that The Kids can't get enough of the CD, will you agree to never ever use the term 'shelfie' ever again?

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Ryanair to sell gig tickets
Ryanair is moving into ticketing, and what could possibly go wrong with that? Nothing, that's what. Tickets don't usually get annual leave, so there's no chance of a mix up there, and whoever needed to carry-on more than one small bag into a gig?

The airline is only sort of getting into ticketing anyway, in that it will be flogging tickets to travellers on its website alongside the hotels and car rental services that airlines are always so keen for you to bundle in whenever you book a flight.

Tickets to concerts, theatre shows and sporting events are being added to Ryanair's website via an alliance with a company called Coras, which claims it is "changing the way tickets are sold online" via its "platform that lets customers buy tickets for any event or activity, through websites they already use". Sounds fun. And The Edge off of U2 is an investor in Coras, so it must be good, right?

Says Ryanair's Greg O'Gorman, who enjoys the very exciting job title of Director Of Ancillary: "We're pleased to partner with Coras to launch Ryanair Tickets. Customers will benefit from very competitive prices as an easy add-on within their 'MyRyanair' account. Initially launching with tickets for shows in the UK, Ryanair Tickets will be extended to include events across Europe in the future".

Meanwhile Coras boss Mark McLaughlin says: "Travel plans increasingly start with the purchase of an event ticket, whether it be for a Premiership football match or for a favourite music artist. Ryanair Tickets offers customers a more convenient and personalised experience to purchase the best event tickets across Europe".

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Former Faith No More frontman Chuck Mosley dies
Former Faith No More frontman Chuck Mosley has died, aged 57. In a statement, his family said that his life had ended "due to the disease of addiction".

Mosley joined the band in 1983, appearing on their first two albums, 'We Care A Lot' and 'Introduce Yourself'. However, his behaviour while touring the second record became increasingly erratic and he was replaced by Mike Patton in 1988.

Subsequently, Mosley worked on various projects, including joining Bad Brains in the early 1990s. He released his debut solo album, 'Will Rap Over Hard Rock For Food', in 2009. And last year Moseley performed two shows with Faith No More to mark the re-issue of 'We Care A Lot'.

On Saturday, his family issued a statement saying: "After a long period of sobriety, Charles Henry Mosley III lost his life, on 9 Nov 2017, due to the disease of addiction. We're sharing the manner in which he passed, in the hopes that it might serve as a warning or wake up call or beacon to anyone else struggling to fight for sobriety".

Faith No More added in their own statement: "It's with a heavy, heavy heart we acknowledge the passing of our friend and bandmate, Chuck Mosley. He was a reckless and caterwauling force of energy who delivered with conviction and helped set us on a track of uniqueness and originality that would not have developed the way it had had he not been a part".

"How fortunate we are to have been able to perform with him last year in a reunion style when we re-released our very first record", they went on. "His enthusiasm, his sense of humour, his style and his bravado will be missed by so many. We were a family, an odd and dysfunctional family, and we'll be forever grateful for the time we shared with Chuck".

Mosley is survived by his partner Pip Logan, their two children Erica and Sophie, and a grandson Wolfgang Logan Mosley.

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Brand New's Jesse Lacey addresses sexual misconduct accusations
Brand New frontman Jesse Lacey has addressed accusations of sexual misconduct made against him, as his band cancel three shows in the UK and Ireland.

Rumours began to circulate recently when the band's former guitar tech Brian Diaz said that various women had told him about incidents with Lacey, urging them to come forward. "There are some ladies I know on here who, FOR SURE, have told me about indiscretions that can be attributed to him", he wrote on Facebook. "Now is not the time to be silent. I have been quiet about this for too long, and honestly it probably hasn't done much good".

He later added: "I've had several, now grown women, come forward publicly with similar stories. I'm inclined to believe them. I will not repeat their stories without their consent. And this is just from women I personally know".

One woman who allowed her story to be made public said that Lacey had begun making sexual advances towards her when she was underage, saying: "He solicited nudes from me starting when I was fifteen and he was 24. [He] manipulated the hell out of me, demanded specific poses/settings/clothing, demeaned me, and made it clear that my sexuality was the only thing I had to offer".

"He knew what he was doing was shitty so he wouldn't [actually] touch me until I was nineteen", she continued. "I should've known better by then, but he had screwed me up so much psychologically that all I wanted was his approval. It fucked me up to the point that I STILL have nightmares and wake up in a sweat. I still breakdown and have panic attacks when people play Brand New in a bar".

In a statement posted to Brand New's Facebook page, Lacey admitted that he had "hurt people, mistreated them, lied, and cheated", although did not address any one specific accusation. He added that since telling his wife about his issues around sex a number of years ago, he has been attending counselling.

"The actions of my past have caused pain and harm to a number of people, and I want to say that I am absolutely sorry", he wrote. "I do not stand in defence of myself nor do I forgive myself. I was selfish, narcissistic, and insensitive in my past, and there are a number of people who have had to shoulder the burden of my failures. I apologise for the hurt I have caused, and hope to be able to take the correct actions to earn forgiveness and trust".

He went on: "Early on in my life, I developed a dependent and addictive relationship with sex. I was scared of it, ashamed, and unwilling or unable to admit it, and so it grew into a consistent and terrible problem. Years ago, after admitting my habits and cheating to my then soon to be wife, I began to approach my problem in a serious way. I entered professional treatment, both in group therapy and individual counselling, and revealed the realities of what a terrible place I had gotten to in my life, and what a terrible impact my actions had on people".

"It is heart wrenching that the most important changes in my life have come at the expense of others", he added.

Many commenters have subsequently noted Lacey's vagueness about the accusations against him, and that a statement in which he specifically says he is "working to shed all my narcissism and my self-obsession" is largely about himself.

Brand New have now cancelled three shows in the UK and Ireland, due to take place later this month. Support act Martha had already pulled out of the concerts, saying in a tweet: "We have decided to pull out of the Brand New shows. Support survivors always".

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MTV EMAs, Jason Derulo, Taio Cruz, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Jason Derulo is back with a new single, 'Tip Toe', featuring French Montana. He's also announced that he'll be touring the UK in March next year.

• Taio Cruz is back with a new single, 'Row The Body'. Like Jason Derulo's new single, it also features French Montana. "I'm a big fan of pop music and it's my favourite genre - if it even is a genre, because it encapsulates the popular aspects of every genre", says Cruz, for some reason.

• Sarah Blasko has announced that she will release a new album, 'Depth Of Field', on 23 Feb. From it, this is 'Phantom'. It does not feature French Montana.

• Photographer Steve Gullick has resurrected his Tenebrous Liar project for a new album, 'The Cut', out on 15 Dec. There'll be a launch show at the abandoned former Coventry Telegraph offices on 2 Dec. Here's new single, 'Alienation'. It does not feature French Montana.

• GFOTY is releasing a compilation of old and new tracks, called 'GFOTYBUCKS', this Friday. Here's an amalgamation of two new songs, 'Poison' and 'Tongue'. They do not feature French Montana.

• It was the MTV EMAs in London town this weekend. Were there winners? Oh boy, there were winners. Here are the winners. They do not feature French Montana.

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

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Noel Gallagher explains his guest scissors player on Later
If you wondered why Noel Gallagher had someone 'playing' a pair of scissors on stage with him during a recent appearance on 'Later', well, he's provided a full and clear explanation. That's simply what his percussionist wanted to play. Or possibly it's all she could play. It's not really all that clear after all, now I come to think about it.

Speaking to ID, Gallagher reckons the inclusion of a scissors player during his 'Later' set was "the greatest thing" he'd ever seen. "If you were from Peckham, you would be obliged to intellectualise it", he added. "You would be at the mercy of intellectualising it. Plus she's French and she's eccentric to say the least".

Explaining how it came to pass, he continued: "I said to her, can you play the tambourine? She said, [adopts French accent] 'I cannot play the tambourine'. I said, 'Oh right. Shaker?' 'Non. I can play the scissors'. She brought them in and I was looking at my bass player going, if that's not the greatest thing you've ever seen then tell me what is. A French bird in a cape playing the scissors? It doesn't get any better than that does it?"

And there was me thinking it was simply designed to distract us all from the terrible new music.

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