Immortal Technique Shares Insights On Downloading Music With ForbezDVD

Immortal Technique speaks his mind about music fans downloading his music. In this video interview, Immortal Technique shares his insights on downloading music from his own point of view, as well as how he measures or does not measure success in the rap music business. Hate him or love him, Immortal Technique always comes real - and you got to respect it!

*Much respect to 2DopeBoyz.com for posting this up.*

Drake "Best I Ever Had" Infringe On Copyrights Owned By PlayBoy Enterprises

Drake's breakthrough smash hit "Best I Ever Had" has landed this hip hop artist in some hot water. Play Boy enterprises realized that they actually own the copyrights to the sample which is featured prominently in the song's hook.

While every situation has some positives, this situation is still not a good one to be caught up in. However there is some added promotion through increased media exposure.

From all the added attention I'm sure Drake's debut album "Thank Me Later" will sell a few more units atleast. Read more on Billboard.
Still the worst music video ever directed, sorry Kanye! LOL

Ricky Ross Files Lawsuit Against Rapper Rick Ross & Def Jam Records

Can you say fail? It seems the real Rick Ross is not too happy with the Miami rapper who uses his name as an alias. Now he is taking aim at the record label which financially supports the popular recording artist.

Recently released from serving a 15 year prison sentence, former drug-lord "Freeway Ricky Ross" is filing suit against rap recording artist "Rick Ross" and his record label Def Jam Records for using his name.

The problem here is that a "name" cannot be copyrighted, so it will be interesting to see how this legal issue gets resolved. In a recent interview with XXL magazine, the former drug dealer Ricky Ross shared his views on the topic. What do you think will come of this lawsuit?

Catch the whole article here on XXL: http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=80579

Intellectual Property Task Force Launched By U.S. Department of Justice

In an effort to set up more protective measures to combat the theft of intellectual property, the US Department of Justice has just recently launched a new "Task Force" to battle against copyright piracy and theft, which is an increasingly problematic issue for the music industry.

In Washington, DC. the Task Force was assembled and briefed by Eric Holder, the US Attorney General, who made a statement. "The rise in intellectual property crime in the United States and abroad threatens not only our public safety but also our economic well being.". His message falling on the ears of other "old men" who do not even understand the true potential of the Internet but were still present in the meeting. All "they" (the people having these meetings and making these tremendous decisions) know is that they want to monopolize control, and not let you, or I, or any of us keep control in our own hands, the people's hands.

Since the late 90's Internet technology has created a huge rift in the copyright law debate. Back in December of 2009, Vice President Joe Biden participated in a discussion with a roster of notable intellectual property owners from all sorts of companies spanning the entertainment industry.

Unfortunately there were no representatives from any consumer or technology driven organizations to add in their valuable two cents. The key words here are "intellectual property owners", who were present for this meeting, while "intellectual property creators" movers makers and shakers are left to (apparently) eat shit. Well, considering we are all the ones who USE the internet the most, you'd think some of us would get a say.

At this point, nobody even knows the exact job description of this IP task force, or what their priority targets and objectives will be. United States Vice President Joe Biden made a statement concerning the new task force, saying "This administration is committed to stronger and stricter enforcement of intellectual property rights, and this new task force is a step in the right direction,". Right, like his old ass knows what the right direction is? (Yea, that's right, I said it.)

For more information, please refer to this article at Digital Music News.com:
http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/101210doj

Rap Music Business Facing Challenge, Album Leaks Force Early Releases

Remember when Jay-Z's Blue Print 3 leaked a full month before it's release ? Eventually the rap artist entrepreneur decided it made more business sense to rush the release ahead of schedule in an effort to sort of combat the "damage" which could be caused by the record leaking earlier online.
It seems to be becoming a trend, with 50 cent's new album "Before I Self Destruct" now implementing the same exact strategy. Having now leaked across the world wide web, this forced the G-Unit Records mogul to release the record early, after the album had been pushed back for many many months.

Is this seriously still a problem ? Depends who you ask. Any big name mainstream rap artist is going to have security issues revolving around their new rap music tracks. It's hard for these super star artists to keep these projects under wraps long enough for a legitimate release and full music marketing campaign to begin. But why not use it to your advantage ?

Lets take for example, the release of Eminem's Relapse album. It was highly speculated that the album leaked online ahead of schedule on purpose, as a tactic to gain more attention. The idea was, since the rap artist was releasing two albums (Relapse 1 & 2), the early leak was the first album, and the second album would be released on the actual street date.
Although this did not happen, it would have made for an interesting and innovative strategy that had not been used before. It's definitely time for these super star rappers to get creative with their album releases.

Clearly indie rap artists are not having this same issue in the music business. It's hard for an album to "leak" online for a group or artist who does not have that main stream appeal yet. After all, if nobody knows that you exist or that you music is about to be released, then who will rush to download it before it even comes out ?

The key here is definitely how much demand is out there for your music to be heard, played and purchased. Even independent rap artists should be seeking out new ways to revamp the traditional "release" of a record. How do you feel about album leaks ? What are some other ways around the security issues involved with such a high stakes music venture (i.e. a Eminem, Jay-Z or 50 cent album release) ? Leave your two cents piece.

Copyrights -- Protecting Your Music Business Assets

As an independent rap artist or hip hop producer, the tracks you record are considered valuable assets in your music catalog. It goes without saying that you should always protect your assets. This article is designed to help you better understand how copyrights work and how important they are to your rap music business. Before you can protect your beats and/or songs, you need to understand exactly what a copyright is, how and when it applies to you as an artist or producer.

What Is A Copyright ?

When a creative work such as lyrics, a song, stories or a screen play are expressed in a tangible form such as being written down or recorded, they are pieces of intellectual property owned by their creator. The creator is also now protected by international copyright law. Copyright law grants copyright holders specific rights pertaining to their work. These rights include all of the following:

1. The exclusive right to reproduce the work.

2. Make derivatives (remakes/remix) of the work.

3. Distribute copies of the work.

4. Publicly perform/display the work.

5. Publicly perform audio recordings of the work through digital transmissions.

When does copyright protection begin ?

Copyright protection begins the moment a new original work is created. Once the work is in a tangible form such as written down (a book, music notation, screenplay,etc.) copyright protection is applied. When you write down a lyric, you are the sole copyright owner of that lyric. Same goes for a master recording, when you are recording in the studio, the moment your live take is recorded you are the copyright owner of the recording (assuming you also produced the beat -- other wise the producer also shares an interest in the copyright of the track).

How Long Does Copyright Protection Last ?

The exclusive rights to a work is held by the creator/copyright owner for a limited amount of time. Copyrights protect a new work for seventy (70) years after the death of the creator, or for ninety-five (95) years if the copyright is held by a corporation. Once a copyright expires, the work enters into the public domain, meaning it can be used by anyone for whatever reason be it creative, commercial or otherwise.

The copyright holders can assign their rights to another person, company or third-party corporate entity, if they choose. Copyright holders can also issue licenses that allows other people or entities to use their works temporarily, under specified terms.

A "Compulsory" license requires copyright holders to issue such a license under certain circumstances, regardless if they volunteer to do so or not. These circumstances include the re-broadcast of TV programs by cable companies, the use of copyrighted works in public broadcast systems, digital radio and web/podcasts as well as the "mechanical license" to manufacture and distribute the recordings.

Which Forms Should Be Filed ?

The Form SR (sound recordings) is what you will need to file in order to copyright your beats and or songs. There is a fee charged for every time you copyright a new work. If you file the form electronically (online) you will be charged $35 per submission. There are more advantages to submitting copyright form online. The charge is $45 if you choose to send in the copyright form by mail. It is more cost effective and efficient for you to copyright a whole cd (compilation such as a mixtape or ep) of works (15-20 songs) and pay the fee once, instead of paying $35 per each time you copyright one song.

For more information please visit: http://www.copyright.gov/register/

Why Do Producers/Artists Need Copyrights ?

As a hip hop producer or rap artist, failing to protect your self by copyrighting your beats and/or songs is a costly mistake you CANNOT afford to make. Yes, the price to file the forms sucks, but those fee's are more then worth the price of security in a big time deal or legal battle. Remember, your songs are valuable assets that need to be copyrighted, cataloged and protected.

Controlling your copyrights gives you leverage when making a music business deal. It also completely covers your own ass if a legal dispute happens to arise. Being prepared is the best way to avoid problems and concentrate more on profiting from your intellectual property.

Lessons In Protecting Your Production - Producer Dr. Dre

What up hip hop/rap producers and artists !

When it comes to the music business, you may have noticed that the genres of hip hop and rap music are especially susceptible to music industry legal troubles. Usually it comes in the form of a copyright infringement lawsuit. Most of the time, it's because of "samples" that have not been cleared or licenses not being properly authorized on a song that hits mainstream and takes off.

For all you rap music business entrepreneurs out there, I would like to share this little tidbit I picked up from following a lawsuit in the news. This lawsuit involves one of my favorite producers and of course the lovely Mary J Blidge, whom, any way you slice it is an amazing R & B singer. The song in question is the smash hit "Family Affair" by Mary J Blidge produced by Dr. Dre.

First let me give you some details pertaining to this particular case. In January, a suit was filed by James White, the manager of rap artist Benevolence. According to Benevolence's manager Mr. White, Universal Music Group (UMG) had received a copyright-protected demo of the rap artist in 2001. According to the plaintiffs, Mary J Blidge's hit single "Family Affair" strikingly resembles a track done by Benevolence on his demo, entitled "Party Aint Crunk".

Originally the plaintiff's had named producer Dr.Dre as the culprit in this copyright infringement case. However, it was later discovered that Dr.Dre could not have been implicated due to his style of producing. Dr. Dre organizes a whole group of musicians to lay down tracks for his productions.

Here's a smart tip I picked up from Dr.Dre (or at least his bad ass music business attorneys).
Since Dre always has musicians in the studio to produce with, the courts decided that Dr.Dre could not be held personally responsible for the copyright infringement because of "lack of personal jurisdiction". This is a grey area in the music industry. Basically this means that Dr.Dre could not have been personally responsible for the infringement because the beat was created by himself and musicians that could testify to being apart of the creative process.

So who is actually responsible for the copyright infringement ? Since the doc works with a group of musicians to produce an original new track, it was found that the real bad guys in this one are Mary J Blidge's team of staff writer's at UMG. Mary J's name was also recently dropped from the lawsuit, as this copyright infringement claim has now landed on the desk of those actually responsible.

Rap artists should always be weary of sending any demo's to the major labels, especially if you have not copyrighted your material. Protecting your copyrights in this digital age can be difficult and can sometimes require a team of people to do so. You will notice that Benevolence and his manager waited long enough to file the lawsuit. This is also a very intelligent move. Whenever you're copyrights have been infringed, you should wait until the song becomes big enough of a hit before taking any legal action, or else you would be suing for peanuts instead of big bucks, which may leave you stuck with the legal costs that would make the whole lawsuit pointless. In my opinion, ff you are going to sue it should be for some big money.

Have you ever sent un-protected work to a major label in hopes of getting signed, only later to find a new hit distributed by that label sounding quite identical to your own work ? If so please leave some comments, I would love to discuss it.