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Assembly Approves Internet Piracy Bill

SB 1506, authored by Senator Kevin Murray (D - Los Angeles), received strong support from the Assembly Arts and Entertainment Committee as it approved the bill 12 ­ 0.

SB 1506 simply updates the law to apply to the most pervasive forum for piracy ­ the Internet. The measure will help consumers and law enforcement distinguish between legitimate works distributed on the Internet and pirated works.

Violation of the statute would be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2500 and/or up to one-year imprisonment. The penalties do not apply to those distributing files to their immediate family or within their home networks. A minor who violated the statute would have to pay a fine of $250 for a first or second offense and a fine not to exceed $1,000, imprisonment in a county jail, or both, for a third or subsequent violation.

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Carlo Oddo of Talent 2000 Goes "On the Record"

At 4pm Eastern, on Thursday, July 8th, Joe Taylor is doing an interview with Carlo Oddo of Talent 2000.

For more info on the situation, see Songsharks Get Busted.

Nudist Priest

No longer is it good enough just to be a tribute band. These days, it usually takes a little more to get attention.

Nudist Priest is a great example...naked guys who play Judas Priest songs.

And for Kiss fans, there is Mini-Kiss, a miniature version of the real thing.

For a behind the scenes look at the world of tribute bands, check out Tribute, a documentary movie that follows acts that cover Kiss, the Monkees, Judas Priest, Journey, Queen, and more.

Need more tribute band information? See www.tribute-band.com.

Music Piracy: IFPI Playing [Dangerously] With P2P Figures

The beginning of this week curiously matches IFPI's new leitmotiv "music piracy files falls 27%". Probably the analyst who invented such statistics did not realize the amount of computing power and bandwidth it would take to verify such a statement in such a short timeframe... What this IFPI message should have been is something like this:

* IFPI sees much less files when people leave KaZaA (the platform IFPI harasses)

* There is less files available in summer than in winter (should be normal trend until Sep. 2004)

* More and more people are blocking access to the listing of their shared folders (because of lawsuits)

But whatever the explanations could be, the important and unanswered questions are the following:

1. How could 27% of hundreds of millions of files disappear in one shot while online sales are not even 0.1% of the daily swaps?

2. The worldwide number of P2P users declined of 3% in May 2004: does that mean they used to own 27% of the available files?

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Online Radio for the Music Business

My good friend Bob Baker has just started an "Artist Empowerment" radio show.

I've known Bob for years and his Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook is one of the best music business books I've ever read. He's always full of good ideas of no-cost and low-cost ways for bands and musicians to sell more music, so it will be worth your time to check out his latest venture.

Historic Bill Sets Out Artists' Right To Audit Labels

Over the past week the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and members of the California Legislature, including the bill's author Senator Kevin Murray, have been engaged in intense negotiations to hammer out a compromise version of SB 1034, the "Recording Industry Accounting Practices Act." The amended compromise bill that has emerged would provide recording artists under royalty contracts the statutory right to confirm, through audits, proper payment for their work, and conduct such audits - or have such audits conducted by their chosen representatives - individually or in groups. The bill would also codify the ability to hire auditors on a contingency fee basis, which, combined with the ability to audit in groups, should increase the probability that artists will actually pursue audits.

The bill will now return to the Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media Committee for a vote on June 15 and then will be heard by the Assembly Judiciary Committee before going to the full Assembly for a vote. The Senate passed an earlier version of the bill last year.

"This legislation represents a necessary and fundamental first step in addressing the long-standing conflict between record companies and recording artists regarding accounting practices. Assuming passage, AFTRA intends to build on this initial success by implementing systems to assist artists in accessing this new statutory right and finding and claiming every penny that is due them. We will be monitoring this area carefully to ensure that the core intent of this bill is fully realized," stated AFTRA National President John Connolly.

On Tuesday, Connolly along with other artists and prominent industry figures, including former head of Columbia/Sony Records, Walter Yetnikoff, testified before the California Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media Committee in support of legislative relief.

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Proposed Australian Music Copyright Change - Fair Use Vs CD-R & Player Levy

On June 9, AustralAsian Music Industry Directory publisher Phil Tripp‹often referred to as a music business analyst by media‹independently submitted a proposal to a broad range of music industry associations to support a change to the Copyright Act. This would allow consumers to legally copy their purchased music for personal use only and also compensate recording artists & songwriters through implementation of a blank media and digital music player levy system.

The proposal asks support at Board level for this scheme to be submitted to the Federal Government by organizations including Association of Independent Record Labels (AIR), Music Managers Forum (MMF), Australian Music Retailers Association (AMRA), Musicians Union, Music Council of Australia (MCA), Australian Music Radio Airplay Project (AMRAP), Community Broadcasters Association (CBAA), songwriter associations, state-based music peak bodies & genre based organisations (folk, country, jazz, Christian, etc.) Replies will be passed on to relevant Ministers & government departments

The tradeoff is to reimburse recording artists & songwriters for the right to copy by a minor levy on blank recording media as well as on digital players‹which operates most successfully in Canada as well as 25 other G-7 or European Union countries. This way of compensating music creators and their investors--typically record labels & publishers‹has already been proposed in 2003 by the songwriters' Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Screenrights which are key collection societies. It is no secret that the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA)‹the trade association primarily representing multinational record labels‹is vehemently opposed to this progressive, innovative program.

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Millennium Music Conference - Day Three

Another day, another panel. This one was about what major labels are looking for and was with some great folks including Mike Galaxy.

Talked with more great bands today including Another Engine, Neutopia, Penhead, The Speaks, and Elisa Korenne.

Flight back to Nashville tomorrow afternoon to play catch up for the five days I've been away...

This conference is a well-attended event worth checking out, especially for bands in the Pennsylvania area. Lots of people from the region up here to swap shows with, etc.

Marilyn Manson & Daisy Berkowitz Settle On Spooky Kids CD/DVD Release

Empire Musicwerks announced today that a settlement was reached with Marilyn Manson and they will remove all artwork on Lunch Boxes & Choklit Cows that is similar to copyrighted works listed in the lawsuit that was filed on behalf of Marilyn Manson and Madonna Wayne Gacy on April 28th 2004 in United States District Court in Santa Monica California.

Goth-rock superstar, Marilyn Manson (birth name Brian Warner) filed a lawsuit against a former member of his own original band "Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids" and Empire Musicwerks. Empire Musicwerks recently released the CD with companion DVD, Lunch Boxes & Choklit Cows by The Spooky Kids, championed by former Spooky Kids/Marilyn Manson guitar player and producer Scott Putesky .

Brian Warner, p/k/a Marilyn Manson and Stephen Bier p/k/a (another member of Spooky Kids/Manson band known as Madonna Wayne Gacy) claimed in a lawsuit the release was an infringement of copyright, unauthorized use of illustration, images and film footage.  Manson asked for cease and desist of sales of the CD Lunch Boxes & Choklit Cows, return and destruction of all product and promotional materials, and is claiming an estimated $500,000 in damages and asking for other punitive damages and attorney costs.

"We could have avoided all the legal B.S. if Brian would have just called me!" Said Scott Putesky p/k/a Daisy Berkowitz. Putesky is also refuting rumors that the release was testing the waters for a Spooky Kids reunion and the lawsuit was a publicity stunt to sell CD's. "I waited a long time to release this historic material, I could have released it a long time ago, but nostalgia is not something you can microwave!"

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Metal Band with Parrot Vocalist

Face-crushing guitars, head-pounding drums, bass so low it’ll make you vacate your bowels, and vocals so scorching, so extreme, they can’t be human. They’re not. This death metal outfit with a parrot for a singer takes your head off with two stabs to the throat. That’s right, a parrot for a singer, coming at you without mercy, Hatebeak pecks your eyes out and assaults your ears in a flurry of pummeling riffs and grey feathers that leaves you lying in a pool of blood begging for more. The first metal band in history with an avian vocalist!

See Reptilian Records for more details.