EMI Loses Lawsuit To Prevent John Lennon's Imagine From Appearing In Expelled

from the good-decision dept

Larry Lessig points us to news of another good court decision, tossing out EMI's attempt to stop Ben Stein's movie Expelled from using John Lennon's song Imagine. If this sounds somewhat familiar, it's because Yoko Ono had filed a similar lawsuit -- which she lost. In both cases, the courts have recognized that Stein's use of the song is pretty clearly fair use. As the link above points out, this is important for a variety of reasons -- including a terrible ruling a few years back that said effectively that there was no fair use for music samples. It's good to see courts recognizing that fair use applies to music as well as other types of content.

Filed Under: ben stein, expelled, fair use, imagine, john lennon, music
Companies: emi

Don't Overreact To EMI Losing The Rolling Stones

from the weeding-out-the-old dept

The news that The Rolling Stones have ditched EMI for rival Universal Music is being painted in the press as the latest blow to EMI since it was taken over by a private equity firm. It's already lost Radiohead and Paul McCartney, and other artists like Coldplay have complained about the direction that EMI is moving in. However, before people bury EMI, perhaps it's worth looking at the upside for EMI here. The Rolling Stones, from the sound of things, were looking for a hugely lucrative deal, knowing that they were a premium brand. But EMI is in the process of trying to reinvent itself for the next generation of music. Getting tied into a hugely expensive deal with a legacy band would make that much more difficult. Yes, losing an old school big name band is a blow to the EMI brand, but the next generation may be a lot more interested in being represented by a label that actually understands the market, rather than one that is actively trying to fight where the industry is heading.

Filed Under: business models, record labels, rolling stones
Companies: emi

EMI's 'New Approach' To The Internet Looks A Lot Like The Old Approach

from the sue-sue-sue-sue dept

Apparently, EMI is finding it harder than expected to shackle its lawyers. The major record label was taken over by private equity guys who claimed they were going to take a new approach to the music industry, pointing to examples like Radiohead as the way to go. The company has made a few steps in the right direction -- such as threatening to leave the RIAA and the IFPI, as well as hiring some tech savvy talent. But, it just keeps sending out those lawyers filing all sorts of questionable lawsuits.

The latest is that EMI has sued both Hi5 and VideoEgg over user-uploaded videos that include some EMI music. Of course, under the DMCA, these sites are not responsible for any infringement from its users -- and if EMI has a legal beef with anyone, it would be those who uploaded the content. But, of course, it sues the companies who might actually have money. That "new approach" to the industry is looking an awful lot like the old approach. EMI is going to learn that the results are about the same too. Pissing off your fans and the websites that actually help promote your acts isn't going to go very far.

Filed Under: copyright, lawsuits, music, video
Companies: emi, hi5, videoegg

Blast From The Past: Oh Look, New Business Models Didn't Require DRM

from the thank-goodness-for-that dept

Sometimes it's fun to look back on predictions from a few years back. lavi d writes in to point out a 2001 Microsoft press release that he came across while looking for something else. The press release touts new DRM technologies coming out of Microsoft, which is amusing if you know anything about Microsoft's history with DRM. But the really key part of the press release was a VP from the record label EMI insisting:

"Nearly all the new media business models require a robust DRM solution to be successful. Microsoft's continued innovation and commitment to quality sound in Windows Media is helping us develop profitable new ways of connecting music fans with the artists they love."

And how did that turn out? Well, as we're increasingly discovering, very few new media business models require any sort of DRM, and in fact, DRM seems to damage business models a lot more than it helps them. And, Microsoft's forays into the space have hardly done very much in helping musicians develop "profitable new ways" to connect music fans to artists.

Filed Under: business models, drm
Companies: emi, microsoft

This Is The New EMI? Trying To Personally Bankrupt CEOs Of Companies It Doesn't Like?

from the how-nice-of-them dept

Last year, a private equity firm took over the major record label EMI and announced that things were going to be different. It wasn't going to be anti-fan. It was going to look on the success stories of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails not as a threat, but as an opportunity. It even threatened to leave the RIAA and the IFPI unless it pulled back on suing fans. It then went out and hired internet savvy executives who would (hopefully) contribute a different perspective to the running of a major record label.

But, in the midst of all of this, it hasn't really backed down from a variety of ridiculous lawsuits. For example, it's been a part of a lawsuit against an ISP that refuses to spy on its users and cut off those who do unauthorized file sharing. We also noted last year that it had sued Michael Robertson's startup, MP3Tunes. Now we tend to have a lot of fun accusing Robertson of having the same marketing strategy with every company he starts: piss off some established company, get sued. It seems to happen with pretty much every company he starts from MP3.com to Lindows/Linspire to SIPphone. So it really wasn't a huge surprise to see MP3Tunes sued -- though, it's difficult to see how a personal music storage locker that doesn't allow sharing could possibly be infringing.

However, now it appears that the "new" more "friendly" EMI isn't just suing MP3Tunes. According to Boing Boing and Michael Robertson, it's trying to extend the lawsuit to go after Robertson personally, saying that he should be personally liable. As you probably know, one of the purposes of a corporate structure is to limit the liability of the executives of a company. To go after Robertson personally makes very little sense unless the idea is to intimidate. Many executives will quickly settle in such circumstances so as to not open themselves up to such a huge liability. On top of that, the chilling effects are tremendous. Others won't even think of starting innovative services, for fear of being personally liable in a lawsuit.

Unless EMI pulls back its lawyers, I think we can safely conclude that the "new" EMI hasn't really changed much from the old EMI.

Filed Under: ceo liability, liability, michael robertson
Companies: emi, mp3tunes

Why Should XM Have To Get Permission From The Recording Industry To Innovate?

from the still-asking dept

In a rather disappointing move, satellite radio company XM has now settled with EMI concerning a lawsuit over its Inno device, that allowed users to record XM streams. This follows XM's similar settlements with the other major record labels last year. No terms are being announced, which is problematic. The whole problem with this lawsuit was the fact that the record labels seemed to believe that XM was unable to innovate without getting their permission and paying them. The Inno device was simply a device to record satellite radio streams -- which is perfectly legal. Time shifting and recording radio is well-established as being legal. But the recording industry used the case to try to squeeze extra royalty payments out of XM.

This is exactly the sort of "chilling effect" that people keep pointing out when it comes to copyright laws. These laws put the entertainment companies in a position where they get to dictate what kind of devices are legal and which are not. Increasing the uncertainty over whether or not a simple device like the Inno is legal, and forcing a two year legal battle to take place is no way to promote progress and innovation. It just makes many companies unwilling to go through that process just to offer the type of device that makes perfect sense and which customers want. It's doubly troublesome in that the RIAA specifically said that it would not step in to prevent these types of devices. Except that it did.

With that said, I was hoping that XM would stand up to the lawsuits and set a precedent, making it clear that the record labels cannot sue to block new technologies. However, with all of these settlements, that's not the case -- so the uncertainty and the chilling effects remain for all others. No settlement terms have been released, so it may even be that XM agreed to pay off the record labels to get them to settle, which would be even worse. It would just give the labels that much more incentive to keep suing every innovative new product that hits the market. This is extortion that slows down innovation and progress -- which is what we thought copyright was supposed to be promoting.

Filed Under: copyright, inno, innovation, permission
Companies: emi, xm

EMI Hires Another Techie Into Senior Management; Co-Founder Of Second Life Joins The Team

from the stepping-in-the-right-direction dept

Normally, I tend to think of big media companies hiring a "Chief Digital Officer" as being severely misguided. That's because thinking "digitally" isn't a separate job function or a separate department these days. It should permeate across the business -- and assigning it to one exec pretty much guarantees that the rest of the company now thinks that it isn't their problem to think about how new technologies impact their business strategy. However, record label EMI is making some news lately, and has now hired Second Life co-founder Cory Ondrejka to be its VP of digital strategy. Combined with the fact that EMI also recently hired Google's former CIO Doug Merrill, it makes you wonder if the company really is taking the importance of technology seriously in establishing its business strategy. It remains to be seen if the company really is taking the time to understand these concepts across its business, or if it's pigeonholing "the tech guys" into limited roles. No matter what, it's worth watching to see if a major record label really can evolve and adapt to the changing market.

Filed Under: cory ondrejka, douglas merritt, record labels, technology
Companies: emi, second life

What Could A Google Exec Do If He Ran A Major Record Label?

from the we're-about-to-find-out dept

In a bit of a surprise move, Douglas Merrill, a VP of engineering (one of a few) at Google (and sometimes referred to as the company's CIO) is jumping ship to become "president of digital" at major record label EMI. Amusingly, this comes just a month and a half after he declared in an interview that he had "the best CIO job in the world." No matter what, this should be interesting. EMI has been charting a different course than the other major record labels since a private equity firm bought it out last year. Rather than whine and fret, the company seems to be looking at the changing marketplace (finally!) as an opportunity. The company has also cut back from the IFPI/RIAA campaign of lawsuits, though it hasn't gone away from them completely. Still, a Google exec, hopefully with at least some of Google's DNA of treating users right can only lead to good things. As we've said, there's still a huge role for record labels to play in the new digital world, if they just stopped looking at the past. Either way, we're about to find out what a Google exec could do with a major record label, and hopefully, it'll be a huge step in the right direction.

Filed Under: douglas merrill, google exec, recording industry
Companies: emi, google

EMI Sticking With IFPI, But Cutting Its Allowance To Sue Music Fans

from the change-from-within? dept

Over the last few months, there have been some indications that major label EMI was sick of the RIAA and IFPI's war on music fans -- and even had threatened to leave the groups. While a huge step, it wasn't a huge surprise, given the new management in charge at EMI, who did not come from a music industry background. It became clear quite quickly that the firm wasn't going to rest on its laurels, but wanted to learn to adapt and to adopt the new business models that involved treating fans right, not suing them. It appears that EMI has now worked out a deal with the IFPI, where it will stay a member of the organization but will contribute significantly less money towards IFPI's "anti-piracy" activities. At the very least, this makes it quite clear that EMI recognizes those activities are counterproductive. For years, the record labels have been insisting that they need to step up such activities, even as every time they did so, things got worse. Of course, the IFPI is still suing and trying to take down sites, so it's not as if the industry has fully realized how counterproductive these activities are. Eventually, though, perhaps they'll realize.

Filed Under: copyright, ifpi, lawsuits, music
Companies: emi, ifpi

EMI Brings Newspaper Free Music Giveaway To The US

from the but-what-will-retailers-think... dept

You may recall last summer that Prince made some news by giving away his latest CD to every subscriber to a UK newspaper. The newspaper paid Prince for the promotion, suggesting interesting new business models that could help two industries at once: both the newspaper industry and the recording industry should benefit from such deals. The newspaper pays some money to the musician, but does so in order to get the promotional benefit -- making both sides better off. Of course, music retailers were upset, threatening to boycott Prince, but that seems like a fairly minor concern. The success of the promotion appears to have gotten the attention of at least one of the major record labels. EMI, who is under new management and seems to recognize how it needs to change, is doing a deal with the NY Daily News to give subscribers access to three free downloads. There will be an access code in the paper, and if you punch it in to the Daily News' website, you'll get to pick from a large list of songs (including at least one unreleased track). Again, this seems like a perfectly reasonable strategy, helping two separate industries in one shot -- though, again, it's likely that music retailers aren't going to be thrilled.

Filed Under: free music, music, newspaper
Companies: daily news, emi