7 key areas of legislative and policy successes by the ABA in the 116th Congress
Image from Shutterstock.com.
The first session of the 116th Congress started in 2019 with a politically divided government and the longest federal government shutdown in history. It ended with the impeachment of the president by the Democratic-led House of Representatives.
The second session started in 2020 with the Republican-led Senate acquittal of the president, followed quickly by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The rapidly spreading virus compelled Congress to close its doors to the public, transformed daily life throughout the nation and dominated much of the legislative agenda for the remainder of the year. The 116th Congress ended with a presidential election, concerns over the peaceful transition of power, and a rush to fund the government for the remainder of FY 2021 and provide additional coronavirus relief prior to adjournment.
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Copyright jurisprudence in 2020 was, in many ways, a study in the scope of copyright protection. While certain courts brought century-year-old precedent to the forefront to interpret the scope of copyrights, other courts ruled overruled 40 years of precedent to even the playing field between popular works and works that are less known.
In the wake of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s pivotal copyright decision in the Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” lawsuit, several district courts, within and outside California, have relied on the
en banc decision to resolve similar issues related to copyright infringement. The defining scope of the Zeppelin decision will have long-lasting effects within the music industry and beyond.
Kris Ahrend of the Mechanical Licensing Collective [Music Biz Weekly Podcast Interview]
Kris Ahrend from The Mechanical Licensing Collective joins co-hosts Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert on the Music Biz Weekly podcast.
The MLC is a nonprofit organization designated by the U.S. Copyright Office after passage of the historic Music Modernization Act of 2018
In January, The MLC began administering blanket mechanical licenses to eligible streaming and download services (digital service providers or DSPs) in the United States. The MLC will collect the royalties and pay songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers.
The MLC has also built a publicly accessible musical works database, as well as a portal that creators and music publishers can use to submit and maintain their musical works data. These tools will help ensure that creators and music publishers are paid properly.
Mon, Jan 25th 2021 10:45am
Karl Bode
With Trump FCC boss Ajit Pai and his giant coffee mug headed for the revolving door, the Biden administration has tagged existing FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel as the new boss of the agency. Rosenworcel is well liked by consumer advocates and industry insiders, and largely opposed the Trump FCC s efforts to lobotomize the agency s consumer protection authority, kill net neutrality, eliminate decades-old media consolidation rules, and effectively turn the agency into a rubber stamp for Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon s every policy pipe dream.
Outside of that time when she helped scuttle an FCC effort to bring more competition to the cable box because the US Copyright Office (falsely) claimed doing so would violate copyright, Rosenworcel has a good track record as somebody
Alaska Guardsmen Answered the Call, Heading Home after Inauguration Assistance Alaska Guardsmen Answered the Call, Heading Home after Inauguration Assistance
U.S. Airmen and Soldiers with the Alaska National Guard climb the stairs inside the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Mike Risinger)
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska Airmen and Soldiers of the Alaska National Guard assisted the District of Columbia National Guard and federal civilian authorities with the 59th Presidential Inauguration this week, and will be headed home within the next few days.
About 70 Alaska National Guard Airmen and Soldiers joined nearly 26,000 Guard members from every state, territory, and the District of Columbia to assist with the historic event. Concerns for safety and security increased after a Jan. 6 protest at the U.S. Capitol escalated, resulting in five deaths, many injuries and arrests. A large number of protesters pushed past barricades