The plight of the “starving artist” is timeless and history is replete with stories of songwriters and artist being exploited for their intellectual contributions. In the mid 1800’s, when Stephen Foster wrote The Suwannee River, Oh! Susanna, Camptown Races, Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair, and Old Kentucky Home, the 1790 Copyright Act only protected […]
About 130 miles or so south of Memphis, Tennessee on Route 61 is what we used to call a “wide spot in the road” named Nitta Yuma, Mississippi. There is a small building with one rusty gasoline pump and a tire changing machine, surrounded by a chapel and a few other small buildings which appeared […]
By Drew Harris How delicious are those 11 “secret herbs and spices” assembled by Harland Sanders in 1930 for his popular “Kentucky Fried Chicken” sold at his local service station? It was so “finger lickin’ good” popular that the Governor Ruby Laffoon proclaimed him a “Colonel” and he started franchising his chicken business. But rather […]
The first of the month (August 2016), the Department of Justice issued a summary of findings with regard to two court orders that govern the operation of two of the U.S. performing rights organizations (the “PRO’s”), ASCAP and BMI. If it stands, the decision will also affect the third PRO, SESAC. Songwriters and music […]
By Morgan Wisted & Barry Neil Shrum Just over half way through, and already it has been a tough year of losses in the music industry. Glenn Frey, one of the members of my favorite band of all time, the Eagles, kicked off the year early when he passed in January, shortly after the passing […]
In our first episode of Purple Reign, we saw that even though Prince was known as a “control freak” when it came to many things, he may have let a few things slip, such as the non-existence of a valid will. Notwithstanding that incredibly inconvenient post-mortem faux paux, Prince was in fact obsessively compulsive when […]
By Erin Thiele and Barry Neil Shrum, Esq. From the reality television show, Dance Moms to best-selling Sia album covers (including Chandelier, Elastic Heart, Big Girls Cry and Cheap Thrills), Capezio commercials, to featured judging on So You Think You Can Dance, 13-year old dancer Maddie Ziegler is the hottest teen sensation right now, […]
by Erin Thiele and Morgan Wisted NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. Casey Dienel is suing Justin Bieber and his producer, Sonny Moore, p/k/a Skrillex, (among other defendants) for copyright infringement involving her song, Ring the Bell, from which she claims the Bieb stole musical riffs for his hit Sorry. She claims that […]
A special thanks to my client and friends at Direct Sound Headphones, who made the short trek from their headquarters outside of St. Louis, MO to Nashville to be a part of the show. Nashville was hosting the prestigious annual event for National Association of Music Merchandisers for the second year now. In the photo I […]
Apple has spun a very integrate and systematic marketing web in its ill-advised stand against the FBI in the San Bernardino terrorism case. The San Bernardino case is the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since the 9/11 attacks. The terrorists were killed and the government needs information on one of their smartphones to discover […]