Music Monday - Lykke Li

Tonight's Music Monday spotlight shines on Lykke Li (Cheers Will Woods for recommending her). Lykke Li is a Swedish singer who has a unique voice and style. She has been on the verge of stardom for the past two years. She Recorded a cover of the Kings of Leon song "Knocked Up" and one of her songs was played in the film Sorority Row. But with her song "Possibility" on the soundtrack to the next Twilight movie, New Moon, she will surely be thrusted into the mainstream.

My favorite song of hers is "I'm Good, I'm Gone". You can listen to an acoustic recording of the song HERE. You can also hear several of Lykke's songs on her Myspace Page.

BlueBeat CEO Hank Risan discusses the Lawsuit and the "Psychoacoustics" Defense

BlueBeat Chief Executive Hank Risan participated in a Q&A with Pop & Hiss, the L.A. Times Music Blog, and went into further detail of how BlueBeat "transformed" the Beatles' songs using "Psychoacoustics".

If you actually listen to our 320 [Kbps MP3] recordings versus the actual CDs, you’ll hear a remarkable difference. They’re created with the intention of recreating a live musical performance. When you listen to them, they’re done in a virtual soundstage of using psychoacoustic simulation, and the intention is to create a live performance -- as if you are there listening to the actual performers doing the work as opposed to a copy or a phonorecord or CD of the work.

Hank Risan went on to say that "Psychoacoustics" is about "how the brain perceives sound. You can then create new sounds that may very well be similar to the original sounds, but you can control how you create those sounds using parametrics like timbre, loudness, other pitch." It sounds like Mr. Risan is argueing that by tweaking the volume and EQ, you can make a fair use copy of someone's music and even sell it as your own. Talk about a stretch...

Digital Graveyard: Database of RIAA Litigation

Ray Beckerman of the blog "Recording Industry vs. The People" has a database of litigation documents from a large number of copyright infringement cases initiated by the recording music industry. This is a great resource for those interested.

The Battle Over the Beatles: Court Orders Temporary Injunction Against BlueBeat

The Federal Court enjoined BlueBeat today from "selling and streaming tunes by The Beatles and other EMI artists". More over at Copyrights & Campaigns.

Order granting TRO in Capitol v. Bluebeat

The Battle Over the Beatles: Capitol Records v. BlueBeat

Earlier this week BlueBeat began offering 25 cent downloads of the Beatles' catalog of music. Only problem: BlueBeat did not have a licensing right to do so. Further, the Beatles' catelog is not available anywhere legally for digital download. EMI has now filed suit seeking a temporary restraining order. EMI's (Through Capital Records) Complaint, BlueBeat's reply, and EMI's response to the reply are below. Head over to Copyright & Campaigns for analysis of the case.

Capitol Records v. BlueBeat Complaint

Defendants' Opposition to TRO in Capitol v. BlueBeat

Plaintiffs' Reply in support of TRO in Capitol v. Bluebeat

Sued for Filesharing Music: Should You Settle or Allow a Default Judgment

There is no clear answer (is there ever with law?). It often depends on how many songs you are accused of sharing. The statutory minimum is $750 per song; the amount that would be applied in default. So ten songs? $7500. Settling with the RIAA appears to cost around $4000 to $5000.

Ars Technica has an article examining further the two options.

Law Prof. Drops Suit Against 'Above The Law' Blog

According to Above the Law blog, Prof. Donald Jones has voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against Above the Law blog publisher David Minkin and Breaking Media.

Pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i)(B), the dismissal is without prejudice. But if Professor Jones were to attempt to refile at this point in time, he would encounter a statute of limitations problem.

There was NO SETTLEMENT in this case. Above the Law has made no changes to our prior posts, and we have paid no money to Professor Jones. The case was dismissed by the plaintiff without anything from our side, except a letter from our lawyer.

For analysis of the legal insufficiency of the complaint that undoubtedly led to the voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit, head over to the Copyrights & Campaigns Blog and The Volokh Conspiracy.

Jones v. Minkin Complaint