Section 115's All-Star Witness Line-Up
The Copyright Royalty Board on Monday kicked off its examination of a century-old provision of U.S. copyright law that has not been updated for the digital age. The statute in question is "Section 115," which allows music licensing without permission from rights holders as long as licensees pay royalties and abide by certain terms.
You can read about opening arguments here, but one detail that was left out of my coverage was the all-star witness list. Here's a partial rundown.
National Music Publishers' Association:
Steve Bogard, songwriter, Rascal Flatts' "Prayin' For Daylight"
Rick Carnes, president of the Songwriters Guild of America
Roger Faxon, former president of EMI Music
Nicholas Firth, CEO of BMG Music Publishing
Jud Friedman, songwriter, Whitney Houston's "Run To You"
Phil Galdston, songwriter, Vanessa Williams' "Save the Best For Last"
Stephen Paulus, composer, "The Postman Always Rings Twice"
Irwin Robinson, chairman of Paramount Allegra Music
Victoria Shaw, songwriter, Garth Brooks' "The River"
Recording Industry Association of America:
Victoria Bassetti, vice president of EMI
Andrea Finkelstein, senior vice president, Sony BMG
Tom Mackay, Universal Music Group
David Munns, former vice chairman of EMI Music
JJ Rosen, vice president, Sony BMG
Ron Wilcox, former executive vice president of Sony BMG
Linda McLaughlin, NERA Economic Consulting
Richard Boulton, director, LECG
David Teece, vice chairman, LECG
The Digital Media Association, which represents America Online, Napster, Yahoo and others will also furnish their own expert witnesses.
Categories:
Intellectual Property
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