Epidemic Sound sues Meta for copyright infringement
Production music company Epidemic Sound has sued Meta in the US in order to, and I quote, "stop the theft of music created by hundreds of musicians, songwriters, producers and vocalists, theft occurring knowingly, intentionally and brazenly by Meta on its Facebook and Instagram social media platforms on a daily basis".

Epidemic Sound, of course, is a production music business best known for providing music to online creators, although its client base is now much wider than that. It operates entirely outside the collective licensing system, meaning the musicians it works with aren't members of any collecting societies.

That means that Epidemic directly controls - and therefore can license - all elements of both the recording rights and the song rights within the music contained its library. And although that approach - which means it has 'complete buy-out' deals with the musicians it works with - has proven controversial in parts of the music community, it does mean the company can offer online creators the kind of one-stop-shop global licences they usually need.

When creators license music from Epidemic, they can post videos containing that music to different user-upload and social media platforms safe in the knowledge that no music company is going to pop up and try to block the content or claim any ad monies the video has generated. Though, of course, if people use Epidemic's music in their videos without licence, it will be Epidemic itself that pops up trying to get the video blocked.

Although, to do that effectively, the production music firms needs access to the rights management tools provided by the different digital platforms. And, to date, with Facebook and Instagram, it hasn't been able to get access to all of those rights management tools. Which is one of the grievances included in this new lawsuit.

"Meta has deliberately prevented Epidemic from being able to protect its catalogue from infringement across Meta's platforms", this week's legal filing states. "Meta offers rightsholders certain rights management tools designed to enable copyright owners to identify, protect and derive value from their works. Meta has repeatedly refused Epidemic access to the rights management tool for music content, without a legitimate explanation".

However, it's important to note, that lack of access to Meta's music rights management tools is just one of the complaints in this lawsuit, with the other allegations in the legal filing accusing the social media giant of more blatant copyright infringement.

Because, the lawsuit adds, the issue here is "not merely users posting infringing works that Meta has failed to take down, as Meta would like to believe and as it will undoubtedly tell this court, but much of this infringement is caused and done by Meta itself".

Epidemic claims that its music isn't just found in videos posted by users to Meta's platforms, it is also in Meta's own audio clips library. The lawsuit continues: "Meta has created a curated library of music that Meta accumulates, stores, organises by genre and that it makes available to its users of its social media platforms for downloading, streaming, and use of such music in video content and posts".

Included in that library, Epidemic says, are tracks that it owns. "By including Epidemic's tracks in its music library without authorisation", it continues, "Meta is actively offering Epidemic's tracks for download, streaming, user synchronisation, reproduction and distribution to its (unlicensed) users without a proper licence or any other authorisation from Epidemic".

And in case you're thinking maybe Meta got that licence or authorisation from a third party distributor, Epidemic adds that it has not "authorised any label, publisher or distributor to make the tracks (or any other music owned by Epidemic) available on the music library".

"Moreover", it adds, "Meta is deriving substantial financial benefit through advertising revenues and increased user engagement derived from the inclusion of the tracks in its music library. Meta has not shared, and is not sharing, any portion of such advertising revenues with Epidemic in connection with the unauthorised use of Epidemic's tracks and has not remunerated Epidemic in any way for the use of such tracks".

Epidemic also takes issue with various tools now available on Meta's platforms that allow users to pull audio out of other users' content - which might include unlicensed Epidemic music - and then use that audio in their own videos.

It claims: "Meta has created tools - Original Audio and Reels Remix - which encourage and allow its users to steal Epidemic's music from another user's posted video content and use in their own subsequent videos, resulting in exponential infringements on Meta's platform, at Meta's hands".

As for the scale of the infringement caused by all this, the lawsuit says: "Epidemic knows of over 950 of its music tracks that have been reproduced, stored, made available to, and distributed to its users by Meta through its music library or through its other content sharing tools without a licence. Epidemic is confident that further research would reveal additional infringements".

The lawsuit also confirms that Epidemic has made Meta award of these issues. In fact, it says, "Epidemic has repeatedly put Meta on notice of its infringement and has tried to engage in a meaningful dialogue with Meta so that Epidemic's intellectual property can be protected and licensed".

"Epidemic has, on over a dozen occasions, informed Meta that the infringement on its platforms spans beyond user generated content and that Meta itself is actively storing, offering, curating, reproducing, distributing, and performing Epidemic's music to others without a licence or authorisation through its music library and its Original Audio and Reels Remix features".

With that in mind, Epidemic states: "Meta is not merely aware of this infringement - it has actively infringed, as well as participated in, encouraged and enabled such infringement. In fact, Meta has created tools whose primary purpose is to increase the amount of theft on Facebook and Instagram. Meta's unlawful conduct has resulted in more than 80,000 new instances of theft of Epidemic's works per day, all directly by, or at the encouragement of, Meta".

As for what Epidemic wants from the courts in California, well, "a declaration that Meta has directly and/or secondarily infringed Epidemic's copyrights under the Copyright Act; a declaration that such infringement is willful; [and] a permanent injunction enjoining Meta's infringing conduct". Oh, and, of course, "damages, statutory or otherwise, for Meta's infringement of Epidemic's works".

Statutory damages in copyright infringement cases in the US can be up to $150,000 per infringement and, remember, in each of those 950 tracks Epidemic reckons are being distributed across the Meta platforms without licence there are two copyrights - one in the recording and one in the song - both of which the production music firm owns. So that's potentially around 1900 copyrights being infringed.

We await with interest to see how Meta responds.

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R Kelly manager goes on trial over documentary screening gun threat
The trial of R Kelly's former manager Donnell Russell, on charges of threatening a cinema that was screening Lifetime's 'Surviving R Kelly' documentary, has begun in New York.

Attended by several of Kelly's accusers, the screening at New York's NeueHouse Madison Square complex was evacuated in December 2018 after someone called the police, fire department, New York City information service and the venue itself saying that they were going to "shoot up the place". Although police did not consider these credible threats, they still called a halt to the event.

Russell denies making any of these phone calls, although the trial focusses specifically on calls made to the venue itself.

Prosecutors say that Russell made a number of calls to the venue on the day of the planned screening of the documentary, in an effort to have it called off. In one call, it is claimed, he told the venue that by using R Kelly's name the film was infringing the singer's copyright. His final effort to have the event called off, it is claimed, was to make the call threatening violence.

Russell's legal reps argue that, as there is no recording of the incriminating call, there is no way a jury could say whether or not it was him who made it.

However, prosecutors say that phone records show that Russell called the venue nine times on the day of the event. He also sent a text message to a female accomplice who was inside the venue telling her that police may be arriving soon, shortly before they did as a result of the gun threat. He later asked the woman to delete that text, although she did not.

This is not the only legal case against Russell, who was arrested alongside two other men in 2020, accused of attempting to intimidate witnesses in Kelly's sexual abuse trials.

Meanwhile, the trial of Kelly fan Christopher Gunn also got under way this week. He is accused of posting a video on YouTube calling on other fans to commit violence against prosecutors in Kelly's New York trial.

R Kelly, of course, has faced criminal charges in multiple US states since the broadcast of 'Surviving R Kelly in early 2019, which included many allegations of abuse against the star.

He was recently sentenced to 30 years in prison after being found guilty in the New York courts last year of establishing and running a criminal enterprise in order to sexually and physically abuse women and teenagers. He has now been transported to Chicago, where he faces another trial on abuse charges.

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6ix9ine sued by Six9
The rapper 6ix9ine has been sued for trademark infringement and unfair competition by the rapper Six9. Which is slightly confusing, but would be even more so if I was reading this story out loud. I guess we could use 6ix9ine's original performer name of Tekashi69. I know Six9 would prefer it if we did.

Six9, aka Warren Hamilton, has been performing and releasing music under that name since 2007. Or at least that's what he claims in his lawsuit. 6ix9ine, aka Daniel Hernandez, began putting out music as Tekashi69 in 2014, before later mainly using the alternative moniker 6ix9ine.

In his lawsuit, Hamilton claims that Hernandez changed his performer name as part of a rebrand that followed him pleading guilty to charges of 'using a child in a sexual performance', which related to videos he had made that featured a thirteen year old girl, which he later used in a music video.

"Upon information and belief, in 2015, Hernandez pled guilty to a crime involving the use of a child in a sexual performance", the lawsuit states. "Upon information and belief, because of such conviction, Hernandez sometime thereafter decided to stop referring to himself as Tekashi69 and instead began rebranding himself as 6ix9ine".

But that rebrand meant that Hernandez's stage name was basically the same as that used by Hamilton, which obviously started to cause confusion, especially as Hernandez's career really started to gain momentum following the release of 2017 track 'Gummo'.

Says Hamilton's lawsuit: "Defendants' subsequent and adverse use of the 6ix9ine mark to sell Hernandez's goods and services in the entertainment industry has caused confusion in the marketplace and injured and stifled Hamilton's career in the entertainment industry".

"Many rap and hip hop consumers have erroneously accused and criticised Hamilton of stealing Hamilton's Six9 mark from Hernandez", it adds. And "many rap and hip hop consumers have also mistakenly attended Hamilton's live performance shows thinking that Hernandez was going to be performing".

Which might almost seem like a positive outcome from the confusion for Hamilton, except, of course, a venue full of disappointed punters is no fun, plus "many music promoters and booking agents have refused to book live performance shows featuring Hamilton because his trademark Six9 is so confusingly similar or the same as defendants' infringing 6ix9ine mark".

The same-name dispute between Six9 and 6ix9ine seems to have ramped up somewhat because of Hernandez's attempts to trademark his name. Those attempts initially failed because Hamilton had previously trademarked Six9 back in 2014, and the US trademark registry said having two musicians with such similar trademarks would be confusing.

However, last year Hamilton failed to provide some required paperwork to the US registry resulting in his trademark being cancelled. According to the lawsuit - despite Hamilton informing Hernandez's lawyer that he was still using the Six9 mark and that he was seeking to get his formal trademark restored to the register - said lawyer used that cancellation to argue that there was no longer any concern regarding consumer confusion if the 6ix9ine trademark was registered.

That dispute at the trademark registry is seemingly ongoing, but in the meantime Hamilton would like the courts in New York to stop Hernandez from using the 6ix9ine name, and - of course - to award him some lovely damages.

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AMRA now directly licensing streaming services in Canada
Kobalt-owned collecting society AMRA this week confirmed it is now directly licensing the mechanical rights of its clients' songs to streaming services in Canada.

A key aim of the current iteration of AMRA, ever since it was launched by Kobalt in 2015, has been to make the licensing of the songs rights of the music publishers and songwriters it represents in the digital domain as global as possible.

Music publishing - and especially collective licensing - has traditionally been very territorial, meaning that song rights would often be represented by different sub-publishers and collecting societies in different markets.

This territorial approach has proven challenging in the digital domain, however, because so many digital music services aim to be pretty much global, and inserting all the local sub-publishers and partner collecting societies makes licensing and royalty processing complicated and inefficient.

Many publishers and societies have started directly licensing their rights to streaming services in multiple markets - for example, across the whole of Europe - thus removing some of the territorial complexities. However, for various reasons, local publishers and societies still get involved in plenty of countries.

But some licensing entities have got further in their mission to ultimately achieve truly global licensing. Setting out its mission on its website, AMRA says that the traditional territorial approach to licensing "creates glaring inefficiencies for all sides: the digital platforms are challenged to clear licences locally, while the rightsholders face an increasingly complex and fragmented collections process, causing needless delays and often inaccurate reporting".

"AMRA, on the other hand", it goes on, "takes a global, direct approach to digital licensing, collection and administration, all driven by the most advanced rights management platform, KTech. This streamlined model allows AMRA to increase efficiencies, combating the large margin of uncertainty, delay and error that exists in the current fractured system".

However, there are a small number of countries where there are specific challenges that AMRA is still to tackle in order to get direct licensing underway, and until recently that included Canada. However, the society confirmed this week that, as of April this year, it has been licensing the mechanical rights of its members songs directly to streaming services in that market. Previously that licensing would have been handled by the national mechanical rights society in Canada, CMRRA.

Confirming the latest change, AMRA CEO Tomas Ericsson says: "As music continues its breakneck speed to penetrate every corner of the earth, and streaming continues to be consumers' preferred form of listening, it is our obligation to ensure songwriters and our publishing clients capture that value".

"This is why AMRA already licenses digital rights on behalf of our publisher clients directly in over 212 territories outside the US", he adds. "The addition of Canada makes perfect sense and adds to AMRA's ability to deliver added value and services to our clients".

The streaming of music actually exploits both the so called mechanical rights and performing rights of songs. These are sometimes licensed together and sometimes licensed separately. To that end, the Canadian performing rights society SOCAN will continue to license the performing rights of AMRA clients to streaming services in Canada.

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BIMM granted university status
The BIMM Institute has been granted full university status by the UK's Department For Education, making it BIMM University.

Within the music industry, BIMM is best known for its network of BIMM-branded music schools, offering various degree courses in performance, composition, production, music business, music marketing and event management. Though the wider BIMM group has expanded into other creative disciplines in recent years, so that BIMM University now also includes the Institute For Contemporary Theatre, Performer College, Northern Ballet School, and Screen And Film School.

BIMM has been working towards getting full university status for a few years now, having originally been granted so called 'taught degree-awarding powers' in 2019, meaning it could issue its own degrees to students, rather than having to partner with other universities which would actually issue the formal qualifications.

Commenting on the granting of university status, BIMM's CEO and Head Of Institution Adam Carswell says: "This is a tremendous accolade for our institution. It is the culmination of a long journey to develop the educational character of our institution, together with our academic processes and corporate governance. We are proud of this tremendous achievement, which enables us to continue to develop our unique brand of education for students seeking a career in the creative industries".

Meanwhile, Academic Director and Provost Louise Jackson adds: "It is such a joy to be able to announce to our students, alumni, and colleagues past and present that we have been approved to use university title and become BIMM University".

"To become a university is not a simple act", she adds, "it is the most significant moment of recognition for an institution of higher education, and it builds upon decades of endeavour. The term university is internationally understood, defined by its community of knowledge creators and leaders who transform societies for the better through innovation and rigorous hard work".

"I am immensely proud of the unique contribution our communities make to both the higher education sector and the creative industries, and the way in which our graduates embrace their role in transforming the world around us through their creativity".

"More than ever", she concludes, "the world needs specialist universities that do not just conserve the past but develop new artistic practices and outputs to help us engage in myriad ways with what it means to be human. I cannot describe how THRILLED I am that BIMM University, now recognised as an equal to other distinguished seats of learning, will continue to lead the way across all our art forms".

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AIM Independent Music Awards nominations announced
The nominations for this year's AIM Independent Music Awards have been announced, with multiple nods for the likes of Dave, FKA Twigs, Wet Leg, Nilüfer Yanya, Taahliah and more.

As well as shortlists for the bulk of the awards, a long old longlist has also been put up for the Best Live Performer category, with the decision of the overall winner being put to the public. Have a go at voting in that yourself here.

The big reveal of all the winners will take place at the Roundhouse in London on 28 Sep, followed by a live show that will be open to the public. More information on that is still to come, but I guess you can expect sets from some of the nominees. Have a look down the lists and try to guess who. Fun!

Here are all the nominees:

UK Independent Breakthrough: Children Of Zeus, Warmduscher, Knucks, Nova Twins, Wet Leg

International Breakthrough: Amyl And The Sniffers, Blxst, Kokoroko, Mdou Moctar, Mitski

Best Independent Track: Anz - You Could Be (feat George Riley), Dave - Starlight, FKA Twigs - Tears In The Club' (feat The Weeknd), Jeshi - Protein (feat Obongjayar), Knucks & SL - Nice & Good, Nova Twins - Antagonist, Overmono - So U Kno, Wet Leg - Chaise Longue, Wu-Lu - Broken Homes, Yves Tumor - Jackie

Best Independent EP/Mixtape: FKA Twigs - Caprisongs, Joy Orbison - Still Slipping Vol 1, Surya Sen - At What Cost?, Taahliah - Angelica, Wesley Joseph - Ultramarine

Best Independent Album: Boj - Gbagada Express, Children Of Zeus - Balance, Cleo Sol - Mother, Dave - We're All Alone In This Together, Dave Okumu - Knopperz, Emma-Jean Thackray - Yellow, Mustafa - When Smoke Rises, Nilüfer Yanya - Painless, Sault - Nine, Walt Disco - Unlearning

Best [Difficult] Second Album: Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There, Jana Rush - Painful Enlightenment, Nilüfer Yanya - Painless, Ross From Friends - Tread, Tirzah - Colourgrade

Best Independent Remix: ATO - No Caroline (Flohio Remix), Erike de Casier - Polite (Mura Masa Remix), Ibeyi - 'Lavender & Red Roses (Champion Remix), MF Doom - Gazzillion Ear (Thom Yorke Man On Fire Remix), Shygirl - BDE (Kaydy Cain Remix)

One To Watch: Barry Can't Swim, Jeshi, Léa Sen, Nia Archives, Taahliah

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DEALS

Pulse Music Group has renewed its publishing deal with Brent Faiyaz. "With Brent and [manager] Ty [Baisen], we found kindred spirits", Pulse co-CEOs Scott Cutler and Josh Abraham say. "They are working towards the highest artistic bar. They are both fiercely independent and will not compromise. We have been part of Brent's journey from the early days and have always had a real understanding of his vision. Ty and Brent play by their own rules, and we very much relate to that. We could not be prouder of Brent. It is an honour to be on this journey with him".

Australian live music firm Secret Sounds - which is owned by Live Nation - has acquired another Aussie festival promoter, Kicks Entertainment. "As festival and music fans ourselves, it's exciting for us to have new partners that share our vision for event experiences that are fan-focused", say Kicks co-owners Jeff Drake and Ryan Sabet. "This partnership will evolve our conversations with artists and provide opportunities to activate venues and festivals that can house them. It will strengthen our ability to produce festival tours that deliver on our vision of ensuring quality over quantity".

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APPOINTMENTS

Secretly Distribution in the US has promoted Chris Welz to COO. "Being able to take on this title and take that next step is extremely important to me, but the goals remain the same", he says. "We still want to be the premiere independent distributor. We're always going to remain a very focused and deliberate distribution partner".

Bauer Media Audio has appointed Christiane Freund as People And Culture Director across the media group, and Adrian Goss as General Counsel for its UK business. "Christiane and Adrian bring a wealth of experience and excellence to the audio business, combined with the passion that will support the transformation of our business to be a global audio pioneer", says President Of Audio Richard Dawkins.

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RELEASES

Billie Eilish has put out a new two track release 'Guitar Songs', featuring 'TV', which she recently premiered on her UK tour, and previously unheard track 'The 30th'. "Finneas and I really wanted these to be yours as soon as possible", she says. "So here they are! Performing 'TV' on tour was such a highlight for us too, so we took the audio from the first night we played it in Manchester and put it in the song. I get shivers every time I hear it. Hope you love the songs and thank you for letting us share our music with you".

Megan Thee Stallion has released new single 'Pressurelicious', featuring Future.

Muse have released new single 'Kill Or Be Killed'. Says Matt Bellamy: "We wanted to update our hard rock sound on this album and with 'Kill Or Be Killed' we found a modern metal sound featuring double bass drum action and even a death growl. Lyrically the song takes influence from my favourite Paul McCartney song, 'Live And Let Die', a dark take on how life's adversity can sometimes bring out the worst human instincts to survival at any costs". New album, 'Will Of The People', is out on 26 Aug.

D-Block Europe will release their new album, 'Lap 5', on 16 Sep. Here's new single 'Fantasy'.

Having just offloaded his publishing catalogue onto BMG, Jean-Michel Jarre has announced that he will release new album, 'Oxymore', through Sony Music on 21 Oct. Alongside the album, he will also launch a VR world called Oxyville. He explains: "Oxyville will be a virtual music city, and in the future I will invite other artists to be a part of it, as well as hold masterclasses and other events. I want it to become a sandbox for new music experiences".

Following their recent collaboration with Harper Simon's Meditation's On Crime project, the Sun Ra Arkestra have announced that they will release new album 'Living Sky' on 7 Oct. New single 'Somebody's Else's Idea' is out now. "'Somebody Else's Idea' is an affirmation that the world I live in is a world that I can change", says baritone saxophonist Knoel Scott. "The first part of change is not accepting the status, the so called status quo, in rejecting the status quo, I free myself to the possibilities which range amongst the infinite. It is our desire. There are those who listen to our music [who] also embrace the possibilities which range beyond the limits of the impossible".

Bad Boy Chiller Crew have released new single 'When It Rains, It Pours'.

Piglet has released new single 'It Isn't Fair', a song protesting British healthcare provision for trans people. "I wrote this song around five years ago when I had been on a long, seemingly unmoving waiting list for three years with no clear end in sight", says Piglet in a blog post. "When I revisited this song recently I tried to rewrite the words to reflect some understanding of WHY it isn't fair, but I'm not a smart enough writer to fit this into the song, so I decided to leave the lyrics as they were when I wrote them in that amorphous, bending stretch of fuckery".

DellaXOZ has released new single 'Paranoia'. She's also announced that new EP, 'The Della Variant', will be released next month. "'Paranoia' to me is about being the better person, not the bigger person", she says of the single. "The positive message is to not engage in conflict with people that hurt you in order to preserve your energy, but I still wanted it to have this bitter, villain-like 'don't forgive or forget' kind of energy to it at the same time".

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

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Camera operator passes out filming 50 Cent horror movie
A cameraman working on a new horror film starring 50 Cent, called 'Skill House', passed out due to the graphic nature of a scene they recently shot, according to the movie's director Josh Stolberg. The rapper added that the camera operator simply "couldn't take how real it was".

"We shot a kill scene last night and the camera operator became so nauseated watching through the lens that he passed out and the camera crashed to the ground", Stolberg wrote on Instagram. "Had to stop down for a half hour for the medic to get him back to his feet. He's OK now and continued later in the evening but… get ready for some crazy shit!"

50 Cent later added: "Crazy night, one of our camera men passed out cold for 30 minutes from the scene. Couldn't take how real it was. We're elevating horror to the next level. This is gonna change the rules of the game".

I don't know, are the altered rules of the game that people need to get killed in increasingly violent ways in horror movies? Because I feel like that's not really a new rule. Still, if it's making people on set pass out, maybe 'Skill House' is taking gore to new levels.

I mean, when I saw the 2013 remake of 'Evil Dead' in the cinema, the person next to me was sick during the bread knife scene. But they weren't on set surrounded by crew and actors safe in the knowledge that it definitely wasn't real.

Among other credits, Stolberg has worked as a writer on horror movies such as 'Spiral: From The Book Of Saw', 'Jigsaw' and 'Piranha 3D', as well as directing 2014 classic (maybe, I haven't seen it) 'The Hungover Games'.

It was announced last week that 50 Cent had been cast in Stolberg's latest movie, and he is also producing it through his G-Unit Film & Television company. Also starring TikTok-er Bryce Hall, 'Skill House' apparently asks how far people are willing to go to become famous in the social media age.

"This film is bursting with mavericks of entertainment, many of them spanning multiple genres and platforms", said co-producer Ryan Kavanaugh upon the announcement of 50 Cent's involvement. "From a global rap and hip hop music icon to a businessman, actor, writer and producer - if anyone knows a thing or two about breaking the boundaries, it's 50 Cent. I'm honoured to work alongside him as we watch Bryce do the same with his career".

Speaking of musicians in horror films, earlier this week James Blunt said of a new documentary about his career: "In hindsight, I'm not sure letting them film this was a good idea". This was after the makers of said documentary described it as being like "Spinal Tap meets Alan Partridge".

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