by thefriedfirm | Nov 15, 2018 | Blog
“Sorry is all that you can’t say” is the opening line of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 single “Baby Can I Hold You” (off of her 6x Platinum, Grammy-nominated debut album), but it also seems to be a sentiment Chapman is directing towards megastar Nicky Minaj, who allegedly used...
by thefriedfirm | Nov 8, 2018 | Blog
As returns from album sales have fallen off the streaming music cliff over the past 15 years, musicians have increasingly had to hit the road to make a living. Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara once told a reporter, “This has become a really blue-collar industry, which...
by thefriedfirm | Jun 4, 2018 | Blog
If you are a songwriter whose works are distributed along streaming/digital platforms such as Spotify or Apple Music and still think of Ronda Rousey or Conor McGregor when you hear the initials “MMA,” now is the time to take note of the Music Modernization Act, or MMA...
by thefriedfirm | Jul 25, 2017 | Blog
A closely watched copyright case has reached a fairly uneventful conclusion. In June, Paul McCartney and Sony/ATV opted to settle over song rights for The Beatles catalogue. Back in January, McCartney sued Sony/ATV, seeking a declaratory judgment on whether he would...
by thefriedfirm | Jul 5, 2017 | Blog
In one of the most anticipated trademark cases in years, the Supreme Court has ruled that prohibiting the registration of disparaging marks violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. The issue (which we covered last year) stems from Simon Tam attempting...
