News

Last week ARIA announced the winners of the Artisan, Fine Arts and Best Comedy awards for 2017. Big shout out to our clients, Katie Noonan, Lior and Gang of Youths (in no particular order), who received the following

BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM
Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp – Songs of the Latin Skies

BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK OR MUSICAL THEATRE CAST ALBUM
Nigel Westlake & Sydney Symphony Orchestra, with Joseph Tawadros, Slava Grigoryan and Lior – Ali’s Wedding

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Gang Of Youths & Adrian Breakspear – Gang of Youths (Go Farther in The Lightness)

Congratulations! We can’t wait for 28 November when the rest of the award winners will be announced!

Vidcon – the largest convention of online video viewers, creators and industry reps – has reached Australia! Our very own Yasmin Naghavi will be speaking as a part of the Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ad Guidelines and Sponsorship Disclosures: Know Your AANA and the FTC panel. She will provide some much needed clarity on Australia and the USA’s adhoc regulations on product endorsements in online blogs and will let content creators and viewers alike understand their rights in relation to such advertisements.

Vidcon AUS is taking place at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from September 9-10 2017. For more info on Yasmin’s talk, see:
http://vidconaustralia.com/people/7210/yasmin-naghavi-senior-lawyer-media-arts-lawyers/vidconaustralia.com

Vidcon – the largest convention of online video viewers, creators and industry reps – has reached Australia! Our very own Yasmin Naghavi will be speaking as a part of the Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ad Guidelines and Sponsorship Disclosures: Know Your AANA and the FTC panel. She will provide some much needed clarity on Australia and the USA’s adhoc regulations on product endorsements in online blogs and will let content creators and viewers alike understand their rights in relation to such advertisements.

Vidcon AUS is taking place at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from September 9-10 2017. For more info on Yasmin’s talk, see:
http://vidconaustralia.com/people/7210/yasmin-naghavi-senior-lawyer-media-arts-lawyers/vidconaustralia.com

Well this brought tears to our eyes! What a beautiful story.

Be aware that copyright protections can apply to font types – Universal Music has been called out for ‘pirating’ the font used in the logo and merchandise for British band, ‘The Vamps.’ Hype for Font have filed a US$1.5 million lawsuit in the New York District Court, alleging that the major label used their font types without their permission. If you want to know how even the big guys could get it wrong, read here:

https://torrentfreak.com/font-maker-sues-universal-music-over-pirated-the-vamps-logo-170802/torrentfreak.com

MAL’s David Vodicka will be part of the panel for tonight’s ‘Making a Musician: Copyrights & Contracts’ workshop in Adelaide! Look forward to seeing you there!eventbrite.com

Are you currently promoting a concert? Trying to drum up ticket sales for an upcoming performance? The ACCC has warned that creating a sense of ‘FOMO’ to encourage ticket sales may be considered misleading and deceptive conduct under the Australian Consumer Law. Ticket retailer, Viagogo, could face fines of up to $6 million for not disclosing hidden fees, improperly inflating ticket prices and using misleading statements such as ‘less than 1 percent of tickets remaining’ when tickets were in fact available from other sources.

To read more about the ACCC’s action against Viagogo, click here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-28/accc-takes-on-viagogo/8848622abc.net.au

A timely reminder that what you say and do online can have severe consequences!smh.com.au

Massive congrats to Troy Cassar-Daley and A.B. Original for big wins at the National Indigenous Music Awards! Great night celebrating incredible talent.themusic.com.au

Lawyers Weekly has profiled what it is like to work as a lawyer in the media and arts sector. Our very own David Vodicka weighed in on the topic, detailing the challenges of enforcing copyright with rapidly increasing technology. Specifically, David shared his view against suggested reforms for a ‘fair use’ doctrine in Australia on the basis that it would only provide greater difficulties for artists to protect their work.

For a unique insight into the challenging and rewarding experience of being a media arts lawyer in the the digital age, read here

https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/biglaw/21634-the-fine-art-of-media-lawlawyersweekly.com.au

Podcasts are a perfect way to learn something new whilst on the go and we can’t get enough of them! This week our top pick is ‘Jacky Winter Gives You The Business’ – a new podcast made for anyone looking for the latest insights and perspectives about project management and production in the creative industries. Plus, MAL’s very own Yasmin Naghavi guest stars in Ep 6 with not-to-be missed advice on who owns what in the creative process.

Click here to listen now

https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/jacky-winter-gives-you-the-business/id1252377284?mt=2itunes.apple.com

Even Queen B is subject to copyright law! Beyonce is being sued by the estate of late artist Messy Mya, whose performance art was sampled without permission in her recent hit ‘Formation.’ The court rejected Beyonce’s motion to dismiss on the basis that digital sampling falls under the ‘fair use’ exemption in US copyright law. We’ll be sure to see an appeal, so keep an eye on this to-be landmark case and follow the debate on music sampling.

Read more at –
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/beyonce-cant-dodge-formation-copyright-lawsuit-1024671hollywoodreporter.com

Congratulations to all our clients who were recognised as the best in the Aus Independent Music scene at the 11th Annual AIR Awards last Thursday (in no particular order):

A.B. Original – who swept up FIVE major awards for Best Independent Hip Hop Album/ Best Independent Single/ Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year presented by PPCA/ Best Independent Artist/ Best Independent Album or EP cc Golden Era Records

Julia Jacklin – who won the Best Independent Blues and Roots Album with ‘Don’t Let The Kids Win’

Nick Murphy fka Chet Faker – who won Best Independent Dance, Electronica or Club Single for ‘Stop Me (Stop You)’ cc. Future Classic

Violent Soho– who won Best Independent Hard Rock, Heavy or Punk Album with their album ‘WACO’ cc. UNFD I OH YOU

Pieater – who won Best Independent Label

It’s fantastic to see the Independent Music scene thriving! cc. Australian Independent Record Labels Association

Sending a big congratulations to all the winners from the 11th Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) Awards over the weekend!

The Musicians Market is underway! Come and meet MAL’s Stephen King and Marcus Walkom and register for a free 15 minute legal consultation.Musicians Market

so excited to see Pieater amongst the noms for the Australian Independent Record Labels Association ‘Best Independent Label’ of 2017air.org.au

Great opportunity to meet many industry experts and obtain information to assist musicians and managers with the business of their music! Come and meet MAL’s Stephen King and Marcus Walkom and register for a free 15 minute consultation!Musicians Market

MAL’s Stephen King and Marcus Walkom will be at Leaps and Bounds Music Festival Musicians Market this Thursday evening. Stop by and say hello and arrange a free 15 minute consultation.

Entry is free, however registration is essential.leapsandboundsmusicfestival.com

Story of a label – Pieater. So great to watch and be a part of the continued growth of this soon-to-be iconic label & community!linernotes.com.au

Harrison Storm partners with the good folks at ie:musicthemusic.com.au

We’re proud to once again be a supporting partner of the Australian Independent Record Labels Association ‘AIR’ Awards.scenestr.com.au

Ever wanted to know more about the music industry – how it works, who to talk to, what you need, why things happen and where you should look for help? MAL’s own David Vodicka, along with other music-biz gurus, will be at MMF New Zealand’s ‘Going Local’ get together in Auckland this Tuesday 27th June to answer all your music industry questions.

Entry is free, however you need to register:eventbrite.co.nz

We just can’t stop watching this AMAZING performance by Ruel covering Jack Garratt’s ‘Weathered’ for triple j’s Like A Version…a star is born!!!youtube.com

We’re hugely proud to once again be supporting The Ledger Awards. Be sure to get along and help celebrate excellence in Australian comic book arts and publishing. It’s all going down at 7pm, Friday June 16 at the St. James Hotel in Sydney. RSVP to reserve your free tickets!The 2017 Ledger Awards

timely piece from We Are Unified GM and former MAL staffer Matt Rogers!musicbusinessworldwide.com

Harrison Storm is back with a cracking new single and some big announcements! cc Nettwerk Music Grouptheindustryobserver.com.au

Client News – great article on the extremely talented Aldous Harding who we’ve been proud to work with for the last few years and who is now making deserved waves internationally.nytimes.com

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2017 Arts Law Pro Bono Awards, including our own Yasmin Naghavi! We are proud to support the wonderful work of the Arts Law Centre of Australia.artslaw.com.au

We’re very proud to support the 2017 Hilltop Hoods Initiative and would like to send a massive shout out to this years winner, Melbourne MC and producer, Sinks. The prize includes a $10,000 grant toward manufacturing and promoting an album, and legal advice courtesy of our very own David Vodicka.apraamcos.com.au

a good read on unraveling a superstar artist’s complex web of dealshollywoodreporter.com

We are very pleased to be partnering with Music NT on this special initiative – Check out further details at the Music NT website www.musicnt.com.au

Meet our very own Stephen King, in Auckland tonight answering all your questions on management agreements, and just why having a formal agreement in place is so important to both artists and managers alike!

Very pleased to have once again been a sponsor for the Taite Music Prize – A big congratulations to the winners, merk; The Clean and Street Chant and thanks for having us Independent Music New Zealand (IMNZ)

Calling all Independent Music New Zealand (IMNZ) members! Meet our very own Stephen King, who will be in Auckland this Thursday to answer all your questions on recording agreements, what is required to fulfil your legal requirements, and any other questions you might have about the legal side of the music business. The session will also be broadcast on Facebook Live.eventbrite.co.nz

Shout out to all our clients who took home gongs at the 2017 APRA AMCOS music awards, in no particular order:

Flume with Dance Work of the Year and Most Played Australian Work with ‘Never Be Like You’

Vance Joy with Most Played Australian Work Overseas with ‘Riptide’

Illy and M-PHAZES for Urban Work of the Year with ‘Papercuts’

It was a great night celebrating great Australian music.apraamcos.com.au

We are very proud to be supporting the Hilltop Hoods and APRA AMCOS Initiative 2017. Along with $10,000 the winning artist will also receive legal advice from our very own David Vodicka.apraamcos.com.au

Congratulations to Australian Independent Record Labels Association on the announcement of the new annual AIR Awards and AIR Industry Conference – now sponsored by the State Government of South Australia, through the South Australian Tourism Commission and Events South Australia and Arts SA through the Music Development Office.

Both the new conference and the annual AIR Awards will be held in Adelaide for the next three years (2017-2019). The 11th Annual AIR Awards ceremony will take place at the Queen’s Theatre, Adelaide, on 27 July 2017, featuring 13 award categories. AIR will present the brand-new music industry conference across July 27 and 28. The two-day event hosts panels, workshops and presentations from prominent industry leaders.

Stay tuned for more exciting news over the coming months!
Read the official announcement here: https://tinyurl.com/z5n3fj4

Middle Kids have gone from the Newtown Social Club to Conan O’Brien Presents: Team Coco in four short months. Great performance of their break-out track “Edge of Town”.

http://teamcoco.com/video/middle-kids-02-14-17?playlist=x;eyJ0eXBlIjoicmVjZW50IiwiaWQiOm51bGx9teamcoco.com

Be sure to check out the premier of Food Network Australia’s first foray into first-run local content, ‘Andy and Ben Eat Australia’, tonight at 9:30! Congrats to all involved, especially our mates at Projucer.sbs.com.au

After some months of work we’re very happy to have concluded Harts North American signing!

In the meantime, catch him on his Australian tour commencing this week.washingtonsquaremusic.com

Some advice on when you should be seeking legal advice, with some insightful tips from our very own Yasmin Naghavi and Stephen King.

http://performing.artshub.com.au/news-article/features/performing-arts/brooke-boland/when-you-need-a-lawyer-253141performing.artshub.com.au

Shout out to the DUNE RATS taking out the top spot on this week’s ARIA album charts with ‘The Kids Will Know It’s Bullshit’, and Ocean Grove coming in at #5 with ‘The Rhapsody Tapes’. Huge effort!! Also belated congrats to The McClymonts with their debut album ‘Endless’ hitting #3 spot a few weeks ago.

Biggest congratulations to Flume and his team Future Classic for taking home the GRAMMY for best dance/electronic slbum with ‘Skin’.grammy.com

What a MASSIVE year of Australian music! Big shout out to all our clients who made into yesterday’s Triple J Hottest 100!

Flume
Hilltop Hoods
DMA’S
Illy
Peking Duk
Violent Soho
A.B. Original
Big Scary
The Smith Street Band
Cub Sport
SAFIA
Gretta Ray
Sticky Fingers
RÜFÜS / RÜFÜS DU SOL
DUNE RATS
Client Liaison
KINGSWOOD
Gang of Youths
Paces
Ali Barter
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
The Amity Affliction
LDRU
Golden Features
Tkay Maidza
Vallis Alps
Elk Road

Paul McCartney vs Sony/ATV Music Publishing begins…musicbusinessworldwide.com

so chuffed to see LANKS sign to Native Tongue Music Publishing and see these guys work together! It’ll be a huge 2017 for LANKS!

Uber-talented Alexander Biggs recently signed with Sony Music Australia! Champagne for all! cc/ Maths and Magic

Middle Kids sign to the good folks at EMI Music Australia and Domino Recording Company cc Kurt Bailey

http://themusic.com.au/news/all/2017/01/17/middle-kids-sign-local-and-international-deals-announce-east-coast-tour/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=YDS%20170117&utm_content=YDS%20170117+CID_798d282603e74ade841715835c12c214&utm_source=Daily%20SPA&utm_term=MOREthemusic.com.au

We’ll let you finish, but Flume probably made some of the best lemonade of all time… huge congratulations for 2 x Recording Academy / GRAMMYs nominations – Skin” for Best Dance/Electronic Album and “Never Be Like You” feat. Kai for Best Dance Recording.

cc: Future Classic, Mom + Pop Music http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/musicnews/s4588329.htmabc.net.au

We’ve finally recovered enough from our post ARIA Awards hangover to congratulate all our legendary clients who picked up gongs in what was a stellar year of Australian music! In no particular order, sending a massive congrats to –

Flume – ‘Skin’
– Telstra Album of the Year
– Best Male Artist
– Best Dance Release
– Best Pop Release
– Best Independent Release
– Producer Of The Year

Eric J Dubowsky and Harley Streten for Flume – ‘Skin’
– Engineer Of The Year

Violent Soho – ‘WACO’
– Best Group
– Best Rock Album

Drapht – ‘Seven Mirrors’
– Best Urban Album

Hilltop Hoods – ‘the restrung tour’
– Best Australian Live Act

Flight Facilities – ‘Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’
– Best Classical Album

Chuffed to get a very good looking RIAA Platinum plaque acknowledging Flume’s single “Never Be Like” achieving 1,000,000 sales and streams in the US. cc Future Classic and Mom+Pop

Belated congratulations to the incredibly talented husband and wife duo, Darren and Sally Seltmann who won their first APRA AMCOS Screen Music Award for Best Original Song Composed for Screen for ‘Dancing in the Darkness’ on the ABC television series The Letdown.apraamcos.com.au

Congrats to our clients MAXCO who have just nabbed Bronze at the International Design and Communications Awards in Québec

Congratulations to Pacific Heights for winning the Best Electronic Album 2016 at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards last night, a great achievement for such a deserving gent!

at the risk of making ones brain hurt a revealing piece that reminds big tech does not play fair http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-castle/google-and-amazon-leverag_b_12429074.htmlhuffingtonpost.com

Interesting Article – it could almost be from the film itself!musicbusinessworldwide.com

A close review of the accounting practices of Vivendi will be the focus here! This one might go to 11…billboard.com

congratulations to Sticky Fingers land the #1 LP chart position, beating out Bon Iver… WHAT LEGENDS! cc Sureshaker + Heath Bradby

http://themusic.com.au/news/all/2016/10/08/theyve-done-it-sticky-fingers-pick-up-1-aria-debut-over-bon-iver/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=YDS%20101016&utm_content=YDS%20101016+CID_81959d1702ae53da9c6c4c14945ea8b4&utm_source=Daily%20SPA&utm_term=MOREthemusic.com.au

A huge congratulations to the following clients who were awarded an ARIA yesterday at the Fine Art and Artisan Awards:

Producer of the Year: Harley Stretten for Flume – Skin
Engineer of the Year: Harley Stretten and Eric J Dubowsky for Flume – Skin
Best Cover Art: Flume – Skin (by Jonathan Zawada)
Best Classical Album: Flight Facilities “Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra” (Future Classic)
Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album: Josh Pyke & The Sydney Symphony Orchestra “Live at the Sydney Opera House”

Congratulations to all our clients who were nominated for an ARIA award today including Flume, who was nominated for 11 awards and has already taken out best album artwork, best producer and best engineer awards.

when is a stream a sale and when is it a licence – another round in the ongoing battle http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/judge-finds-sony-spotify-agreement-933796

Earlier today – David Vodicka sharing his knowledge at the Music Matters “Know Your Rights” panel with John McLellan and Samuel Seow.

So brilliant to see Big Scary’s exceptional new record ‘Animal’ slip into #5 spot on the ARIA charts last week. A very well deserved debut entry for Tom and Jo and the Pieater team!ariacharts.com.au

Interesting Article – revealing something of the minefield around clearances, even of apparently public domain works.hollywoodreporter.com

Huge congrats to The Amity Affliction topping charts all over the world with their new LP ‘This Could Be Heartbreak’!

if you ever wanted a primer to understand the rather arcane US publishing rights world this is a good and relatively concise summary. Australia/New Zealand simple in comparison.billboard.com

the perils of not having a written management agreement when things go south, those oral agreements can be tough to enforce!billboard.com

not Australian / NZ law specific but a definite reminder that the principles of estate planning remain universal and affect creatives and the rest of us alike!billboard.com

upending the traditional management paradigm…billboard.com

If you’re in Newcastle this Saturday be sure to check out MAKEit MADEit Conference at Newcastle Museum, featuring a talk by our own Yasmin Naghavi on the legal stuff you need to know for your creative business.makeitmadeit.com

Big congrats to The Woolshed Company on fooling the online world for the last few years with its viral video experiment! Well deserved local and international praise now flowing in for their work. Vid below via The Project

the other side of losing an infringement action – court costs!hollywoodreporter.com

great panel last weekend at 2016 Screen Futures Summit and Youth Media Festival moderated by our Yasmin Naghavi which also featured speakers from Screenrights and Copyright Agency Limitedguidebook.com

Media Arts Lawyers and our office douge Wilko would like to congratulate Flume and Future Classic on the triple platinum selling Single “Never Be Like You”.

The latest issue of the Australian Media, Technology and Communications Law Bulletin features our own Sarah Woolcott who considers the ability to protect copyright owners of music from “sound-alikes” through the tort of passing off, and addresses the need for a “right of publicity” cause of action in Australia.

a succinct rebuttal of commonly deployed arguments around the lack of importance of copyrightcopyright.com.au

Sending a huge congrats to Flume, with his second album “Skin” debuting at #1 on the Aria Album Charts, #8 on the Billboard Top 200, and taking the top spot on the Dance/Electronic Albums Charts. Phenomenal effort! This stellar review says it all –independent.co.uk

We’re proud sponsors of this years’ The Design Conference Brisbane. There’s only a handful of tickets left so don’t miss out – it’s going to be a cracker!

happy as always to be part of this great Hilltop Hoods / APRA AMCOS initiative!

congrats to Graeme Connors on the debut of his new album “60 Summers” at #11 on the ARIA charts. Awesome effort! http://www.graemeconnors.com/graemeconnors.com

So incredible to see Hilltop Hoods packing out Rod Laver with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on Saturday night. Their sell out show made it the biggest ever attendance at an Australian hip hop event – remarkable! We recorded a small snippet at the end (you know, cos you can’t live your life behind a camera). Whilst it’s not the same as being there, it almost captures the rapturous energy in the room and totally evidences why they are such a great live act.

No Stairway, Denied! Be interesting to see how this infringement claim plays out now it’s being put to a jury trial in the UStheguardian.com

Big congratulations to all those winners at the APRA AMCOS Music Awards last night but a special hug/shout out to our super talented clients: Tame Impala, Hilltop Hoods, courtney barnett, Jarryd James music, and Peking Duk feat. SAFIA.apraamcos.com.au

Liquor Law Review Submissions close today, 4th April 2016.

The Hon Ian Callinan will be reviewing the amendments to liquor licensing to determine the effectiveness of the 10pm take-away alcohol restrictions and the 1.30am lock out/3am cease sale laws.

Below is the website where you can find a background paper on the issues in review and statistics involved.

Anyone can make a submission and the content can be as simple as detailing how the laws have negatively affected your ability to get work as a musician or DJ or how the laws have negatively affected Sydney’s vibrant music scene.

Submissions must be in PDF format and can be emailed to liquorlawreview@justice.nsw.gov.au.liquorlawreview.justice.nsw.gov.au

Any whip smart Australian lawyers keen to join Media Arts Lawyers in our Melbourne office? It’s an inspiring work environment and the successful applicant will be helping us represent the most exciting talent and creative companies in the region!

See our job posting for more information.seek.com.au

We’re hiring! Check out our job posting for a Commercial IP and Entertainment Lawyer, 3+ years experienceseek.com.au

some words of wisdom here for managers/artists from the UK’s MMF (Music Managers Forum UK) on preparing for a US of A foraythemmf.net

Super studio Oh Yeah Wow’s mad animated series Supa Phresh debuts on Nickelodeon http://www.nick.com.au/shows/supa-phresh/videos/supa-phresh-episode-1-welcome-to-supa-phresh/jwhkhwnick.com.au

Huge congrats to the super talented Matt Corby whose debut studio album ‘Telluric’ has entered the ARIA Charts at #1!ariacharts.com.au

Flume x Disclosure = FIREabc.net.au

Sending a big shout out to the Hilltop Hoods whose album ‘Drinking From The Sun, Walking Under Stars Restrung’ has just debuted at #1 on the ARIA Charts!

Legends METHYL ETHEL sign to 4AD, hard to keep this one a secret! http://themusic.com.au/news/all/2016/03/01/methyl-ethel-sign-to-4ad-and-announce-australian-tour/themusic.com.au

Sending a big congratulations to Media Arts Lawyers partner David Vodicka on his nomination for the best Music Attorney at the 2016 International Music Industry Awards!musexpo.net

Massive congratulations to Tame Impala for taking home the International Group award at the 2016 BRIT Awards!brits.co.uk

Pabst tries to get out of paying Snoop “phantom equity” on a sale transaction – interesting lesson around clarifying what constitutes a sale transaction in agreements of this type.hollywoodreporter.com

Is litigation unpredictable? Guessing that this was not the outcome Warner Chappell expected when this one kicked off…hollywoodreporter.com

for those of our clients attending SXSW here’s a useful summary of US Visa considerations from Finkelman Immigration Law Firmfinkelmanlaw.com

Of the 54 Australian songs that made it into yesterday’s hottest 100, we represent a whopping 40 of them! We love working with all these acts and are thrilled that the love is shared by the Triple J community. Congrats to the following artists:

The Rubens
Tame Impala
Marcus Marr & Chet Faker
Jarryd James music
RÜFÜS / RÜFÜS DU SOL
Violent Soho
Vance Joy
Gang of Youths
L D R U
SAFIA
Flume
The Amity Affliction
Vallis Alps
Peking Duk
Illy
courtney barnett
Hayden James
Asta
Matt Corby
Alison Wonderland
Boy & Bear
Tkay Maidza
DMA’S
Flight Facilities
Thelma Plum & Golden Features
Jai Wolf
METHYL ETHEL
Seth Sentry
Halsey
Airling