music
Embracing the Future: The Rise of AI-Generated Art
Apr. 3, 2024—By David Black In the rapidly evolving landscape of creative expression, the emergence of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents both exhilarating possibilities and profound challenges. As society witnesses AI’s expanding application and scope, particularly in the realm of artistry and creativity, fundamental questions arise: Are we prepared, or even willing, to embrace the new artists...
Universal Music Group and TikTok’s Contractual Standstill
Feb. 13, 2024—By Dana Branstetter TikTok legally adds music from artists as sounds on its platform through licensing agreements,[1] typically through negotiations with rights holders, such as the labels or publishing companies to which artists sign.[2] In exchange for providing the music to TikTok users, the owner of the music’s rights receives the royalties in accordance with...
Just a Sample Can’t Be So Bad: Adopting the De Minimus Standard for Sampling Music in the Modern Era
Jan. 29, 2024—By Paul Gerstle Sampling has long been a popular medium by which artists can express themselves by borrowing bits of another artist’s song for their own purposes. However, use of another artist’s work can cause legal issues. After all, the original song is the property of another, and the new artist cannot simply appropriate that...
From Art to Evidence: The Admissibility of Rap Lyrics in Criminal Trials
Dec. 13, 2023—By Sophie Zelony Jeffery Lamar Williams, more famously known as Grammy-award winning, Billboard-chart-topping, Atlanta-born rapper, “Young Thug,” is back in the spotlight, and his rap music has taken center-stage in Fulton County Superior Court as he faces criminal charges for conspiring to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) Act, alongside 27 other defendants....
Navigating the Tension Between Preservation and Development Pressure: Cities’ Imperative to Save Independent Music Landmarks While Simultaneously Providing for Growth
Nov. 28, 2023—Mary-Michael Robertson | 26 Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. L. 211 (2023) While cities can use their power to enact zoning ordinances and create historic preservation districts, these preservation ordinances vary widely across the United States, from allowing almost any type of development to strictly limiting any new development that does not match existing height,...
Albrecht Dürer’s Enforcement Actions: A Trademark Origin Story
Jun. 28, 2023—Peter J. Karol | 25 Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. L. 421 (2023). This Article offers a trademark-framed reappraisal of a pair of extraordinary enforcement actions brought by the Northern Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) against copyists of his work. These cases have long been debated by art, cultural, and copyright historians insofar as they...
Prospecting, Sharecropping, and the Recording Industry
Jun. 28, 2023—Olufunmilayo Arewa & Matt Stahl | 25 Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. L. 267 (2023). Digital-era disruption has had a significant impact on the recording industry and the business of music more generally. Digital-era music disruption draws attention to patterns of continuity within the recording industry. Notably, despite widespread use of digital technologies for the...