Music Publishing News Roundup 9.18.2015: SESAC + Harry Fox • Fair Use Fracus • YouTube Growth
This week SESAC finalized its acquisition of the country's leading mechanical rights organization, the Harry Fox Agency.
The acquisition signifies the creation of a Music Rights Organization that's the first of it's kind in the United States by enabling the company to bundle both mechanical and performance licenses. SESAC Chairman John Joseph stated "We look forward to driving greater efficiency in licensing for music users, as well as enhanced value for music creators and publishers"
On Monday an Appeals Court determined that Fair Use must be considered prior to issuing takedown notices on the web. The court ruled in favor of Stephanie Lenz who sued Universal Music Corp and Universal Music Publishing for the take down of a 29-second YouTube video of her 2 children dancing to a Prince’s song “Let’s Go Crazy”. The ruling provided a significant decision concerning the notoriously ambiguous Fair Use Defense as the court writes "fair use is not just excused by law, it is wholly authorized by the law."
YouTube has experienced unparalleled growth in the music streaming space by delivering over 60% more music streams than all other music streaming services combined. Nielsen Music reports a staggering 76.6 billion music video streams for the first half of 2015 -this equates to a 109.2 percent gain. Meanwhile, overall music streams continue to surge at a rapid pace of over 90 percent this year.
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