Songwriters: Protecting Your Cellphone Against Hackers Could Be Crucial for Song Protection
January 27th, 2012
We frequently hear from songwriters that they’re highly fearful of their music being stolen. If you fall in that category, now there’s another worry. Your smartphone. We all know about being careful about the websites we visit, the emails we open and links we click, but the dangers of losing data to a smartphone hacker is fairly new. The New York times brings it to our attention in a new tech article as follows:
Chuck Bokath would be terrifying if he were not such a nice guy. A jovial senior engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta, Mr. Bokath can hack into your cellphone just by dialing the number. He can remotely listen to your calls, read your text messages, snap pictures with your phone’s camera and track your movements around town — not to mention access the password to your online bank account.
As cellphones have gotten smarter, they have become less like phones and more like computers, and thus susceptible to hacking. But unlike desktop or even most laptop computers, cellphones are almost always on hand, and are often loaded with even more personal information. So an undefended or carelessly operated phone can result in a breathtaking invasion of individual privacy as well as the potential for data corruption and outright theft.
Read more via Protecting a Cellphone Against Hackers – NYTimes.com.
Blackout Sites Include Google, Wikipedia, WordPress in Protest Against Anti-Piracy Bills
January 18th, 2012
So Piracy — or stealing songs, videos and anything a thief can get his hands on is OK? The gall of these Internet companies. They make their livings mostly on the creativity of others. But they’d rather sacrifice the providers of their content than go to the trouble of protecting that content against vandals!
They claim it’s a free speech issue. What? Since when is stealing someones very living a matter of free speech? As Billboard puts it,
“Numerous Internet companies engaged in a “blackout” protest Wednesday against two anti-piracy bills, SOPA and its counterpart in the Senate, the PROTECT IP Act PIPA. The bills are supported by the RIAA, MPAA and countless other creative and business organizations. A handful of leading Internet sites are showing that fear is a great motivator. The logo on Googles home page is covered by a black rectangle. Following the link takes the reader to an “End Piracy, Not Liberty” page with information on the bills and an online petition.”*
Songwriters, you need to be aware that your greatest fear of stealing your songs is not from somebody stealing your lyrics or compositions and selling them. It’s the download thieves who steal songs after they’ve been recorded and you finally have some hope of getting paid for your work. Your congressmen and senators need to know how you feel about legalized stealing… from YOU!
Scotty McCreery’s Debut Album Goes Platinum
January 11th, 2012
When news was released that Scotty McCreery would be recording in Nashville, we received tons of requests from writers we work with to pitch their songs to him. Problem was, by then, he had already locked up the songs he would record. That’s the way it goes. By the time the popular press and sites start talking about such things, it’s already done.
Now, as reported by Music Row.com, his debut album, Clear As Day, has been certified platinum in just three months after its Oct. 4, 2011 release.
McCreery says the platinum certification marks a major milestone in his career, “It means the world to me,” he explains. “It’s one of the highest honors you can get with your album and it’s a huge testament to the loyalty of country music fans and how great they have been to me this year. 2011 was absolutely an incredible, life-changing year for me. I want to say a huge thanks to the fans for this.”
Songwriters: Beware Bad Advice From Internet Characters Who Falsely Claim To Be Legal Experts!
January 4th, 2012
We hate to see people who contact us get sidetracked and even hoodwinked by asking for advice in the wrong places. Here’s a case in point: A lyricist looking for help poses a question on a site which indicates that it’s a site specializing in legal advice on intellectual property matters (copyright, trademark) Unfortunately it’s a reservoir of BAD advice, as evidenced by the question and answer which follows.
The lyricist asks, “Is it normal practice to be charged a fee to get a song recorded by a professional vocalist accompanied by instruments?”
Some guy claiming to be an “intellectual property counsel” says no. Which means he has no idea what he’s talking about. The writer has described a demo recording arrangement. Every day in Nashville and other major music centers demos are recorded, and the company or person authorizing the recording pays for the musicians, engineers and studio time. Who else would foot the bill?
Maybe this “counsel” is confusing a demo situation with that of a publisher hiring a songwriter or issuing a single-song contract, in which case the publisher may advance funds to pay for the demo, then take the advance out of earnings, when and if there are any. BUT… publishers don’t send out contracts on lyrics alone. They only do that on complete songs. If “counsel” knew anything about the music business, he would know that.
The shame is this “counselor” may have done irreparable harm to this lyricist, who incidentally PAID $22 for the bad advice. The harm comes from the lyricist trying to base a future on faulty advice, and probably wasting years trying to find the impossible deal.
This “counsel” identifies himself only by a first name. With another click, we find that his description of his practice is, “Private practice with focus on family, criminal, PI, consumer protection, and business consultation.” No mention here of IP law or entertainment law.
So what’s a family practice lawyer, who makes no mention of entertainment law doing answering such a question anyway? And what kind of practice could he have if he gets the pittance of $22 for a consultation? Lawyers we know get a minimum of 200-$300 an hour, some much more.
Shouldn’t there be a penalty for a lawyer who takes money for advice outside his field without issuing a disclaimer saying he has no special qualifications to give that advice?
The “lawyer” in this case makes some mention of the word “scam.” If ever the word should apply, it should certainly apply to this rip-off artist posing as a lawyer. So what’s a writer to do? Simple. If you want legal advice, go hire a legitimate lawyer who really does specialize in entertainment law. A $20 lawyer could do some real damage to your songwriting aspirations.
Time for a Songwriter Hooray! YouTube buys licensing firm RightsFlow
December 12th, 2011
From a battle over pirated music and videos on YouTube to a settlement to this announcement, a lot of ground has been covered in the effort to get creators and distributors of music the royalties they deserve for play on the giant video website.
YouTube has acquired RightsFlow, a company that helps songwriters, recording artists, labels, distributors, and online music services set up licensing and royalties arrangements.
“By combining RightsFlows expertise and technology with YouTubes platform, we hope to more rapidly and efficiently license music on YouTube, meaning more music for you all to enjoy, and more money for the talented people producing the music,” YouTube said in a statement on its blog last Friday.
YouTube and parent company Google have been involved in several copyright-related altercations over the years. In August, YouTube reached a settlement in a class-action suit involving a group of music publishers. The suit accused YouTube of encouraging users to upload pirated video clips of TV shows, films, and music videos.
via YouTube buys licensing firm RightsFlow – ZDNet Asia News.