Rabia Elif Aksoy © 123RF.com

Note to Copyright Owners: Register Your Original Work

Are you in the business of creating, acquiring, owning, publishing, licensing or financing original works entitled to copyright protection, such as books, movies, sound recordings, musical compositions, audio/visual works, software, photos, artwork, or articles? If so, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com should be of interest. (Read More)

ginasanders © 123RF.com

Contact:

Michael Poster
212.730.7700 | mposter@mrllp.com

Ian Shane
212.730.7700 | ishane@mrllp.com

Is a C-Corp. Conversion Right for Your Business?

With the steep reduction in the federal corporate tax rate under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”) recently signed into law, many businesses that operate as tax pass-throughs, such as partnerships, LLCs or S-Corporations (“S-Corp.”), may be considering converting to C-Corporation (“C-Corp.”) status instead.

Under the Act:

• The top federal rate for individuals is reduced from 39.6% to 37% tax on ordinary income such as wages, dividends that are not qualified dividends and short-term capital gains (gains on investment assets held for less than one year). This tax rate will return to 39.6% after 2025 unless the reduced rate is extended or made permanent by subsequent legislation.

(Read More)

lightwise © 123RF.com

Paul McCartney Sues Sony/ATV to Reclaim Copyrights to Beatles Songs

Sir Paul McCartney has filed suit against Sony/ATV Music Publishing in New York Federal Court, seeking a declaration that he can exercise his termination rights under the Copyright Act of 1976 in order to reclaim the rights to many of his musical compositions for The Beatles. The songs, which McCartney either wrote, or co-wrote with John Lennon, and which were once owned by pop music star Michael Jackson, are immensely valuable. It is anticipated that Sony/ATV may challenge the former Beatle’s termination notices in order to preserve its rights. (Read More)

Alexey Laputin © 123RF.com

Master Recordings – A Re-Emerging Asset Class Part 2

My last blog discussed how master recordings, or masters, are re-emerging as an asset class. In acquiring masters, however, a buyer has to be mindful of a number of significant legal issues.

Limited Rights: As a practical matter, the exploitation or licensing of masters is limited when the owner does not have the related music publishing rights, or at least a strong relationship with a publisher. One of the factors that has benefited music publishing as an asset class over the last 10 to 15 years is the fact that publishing assets have many more opportunities for revenue. For example, if a publisher wants to license a song for use in a film, but the film’s producer does not have a budget sufficient to license the original recording by a famous recording artist, another recording of the song can be made by a different artist. This creates a revenue opportunity for the publisher but not the owner of the original recording. However, the reverse does not work the same way – if the owner of the master wants to license the rights, but the publisher does not, the owner of the master is out of luck. (Read More)

Alexey Laputin © 123RF.com

Master Recordings – A Re-Emerging Asset Class Part 1

There is a topic within the music industry that is attracting attention for the first time in quite a few years. This is the increased interest in purchasing the rights to master recordings, or “masters” as they are known in the industry. Masters are the original sound recordings made by recording artists under recording contracts. Owners of masters have the rights to sell, distribute, reproduce and perform these recordings, and authorize others to do the same. (Read More)