I will not talk you out of greatness — sorry I’m not sorry.

If you advise brands, stop letting them peddle products with others' IP. Be the good partner, I promise you rightsholders are open to making licensing fast, easy, and in many cases less expensive than you think.

The cost of doing it right is always less than the cost of getting caught.

It’s holding the line and setting boundaries in a market where the lines btwn personal and commercial use are being blurred on purpose as an end-run around protections the EULA affords. If you rep writers & artists, now is the time to educate, and act.

Courts have upheld this for decades, and no amount of fast-fashion, "creator economy" influencer culture is going to rewrite that.

For rightsholders and their advisors, this is the moment to get loud. Enforcement matters, and not just for revenues.

The idea that “everyone does it” or “the music was on TikTok” is the same logic the legal dept decries and marketing and sales hope matters, but it's getting companies blindsided by seven-figure claims. This isn't nuanced: using music to sell something? Get a license. Period.

The latest lawsuit (Sony) v. DSW isn't just another case. It’s a promise kept and should be an alarm for every brand / agency clinging to the myth that platform licenses magically cover comm'l use. They don’t. Never have. Hoping otherwise is a liability. t.co/vELzcCDTRz

A warning shot to AI developers that the era of unregulated data mining may be ending? Sure, but it may be placing an undue burden on individuals and rightsholders.

My analysis: lnkd.in/ebG2QRjT

No registration required. No fair use defense. Just a clear path to court. It’s a bold, bipartisan signal that Congress is no longer content to let the courts sort it out piecemeal.

The bill creates a new federal tort for artists and consumers whose data or works have been scraped, trained on, or mimicked by generative AI systems. It bypasses the limitations of copyright law, sidesteps the DMCA, and removes Section 230 immunity for AI-generated content.

The Blumenthal-Hawley AI Accountability and Data Protection Act doesn’t nibble around the edges. It literally calls AI training without consent “the largest intellectual property theft in American history.”

Artificial streaming fraud is theft, and it demands immediate, coordinated action.

Support this call for clarity and accountability and join us in protecting the integrity of digital music.

t.co/Nw6RSHoxHj

Of course the case in NC cost rightsholders $10M. These aren’t edge cases, they’re evidence of a growing pattern of digital fraud that violates platform terms, breaches licensing agreements, and in many cases constitutes wire fraud, civil and criminal conspiracy, and criminal copyright infringement.

In Sweden, criminal gangs have reportedly used Spotify to launder money and recruit members by purchasing fake streams for affiliated artists, converting illicit cash into royalties and visibility. Authorities called Spotify “an ATM” for these groups.

t.co/P1Fh7r6Cvm

March of last year, in Denmark, a man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for using bots to generate $300,000 in fraudulent royalties, including copyright violations. t.co/scOLePcqEI

Recent cases make this clear:

In Brazil, authorities uncovered a scheme involving 28 million fake streams, fake artist profiles, and AI-generated music, resulting in arrests and asset seizures exceeding $400,000. t.co/yZqQQs4AX5

AI is a real concern. Cases like the Anthropic class action may reshape the legal landscape and change behavior, but AI's direct negative impact is still somewhat abstracted.

Artificial streaming is happening now, and it’s prodigious, organized, criminal, and global.

As Counsel to the Music Fights Fraud Alliance, I give full-throated support to the defense of the integrity of music streaming, and fandom. Michael Lewan's recent Billboard column rightly identifies artificial streaming as the most immediate threat to the music industry. t.co/nK4ab44BFD

Who's Involved | Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame FAQ Style

Really fun and frankly proud news to share: on the heels of my dear friend Maggie Rose signing on, I've officially joined the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame Board of Artist/Industry Advisors.

68th Annual Report of the Register of Copyrights, 1966
www.copyright.gov/reports/annu...

The crucial question appears to be whether the work is basically one of human authorship, with the computer merely being an assisting instrument, or whether the traditional elements of authorship in the work...were actually conceived and executed not by man but by a machine."

...This year, copyright was claimed for an abstract drawing, and for compilations of various kinds, which were at least partly the "work" of computers. It is certain that both the number of works proximately produced or "written" by computers...

"As computer technology develops and becomes more sophisticated, difficult questions of authorship are emerging. The Copyright Office had previously received an application for registration of a musical composition created by computer...

As the end of my semester meets the announcement of the new Pope, the story of Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel seems very relevant.

Censoring the Sistine Chapel

threadreaderapp.com/scrolly/1920...

As We Speak: Rap on Trial - Watch Full Movie on Paramount Plus AS WE SPEAK is a documentary about rap music on trial, in which a rapper, Kemba, explores the troubling weaponization of music against artists in the United

You can watch it in its entirety on Paramount +
www.paramountplus.com/movies/video...

2025 News & Documentary Emmy Awards Nominations Revealed The winners will be announced in two ceremonies on June 25 and June 26.

Extremely happy for friend client and colleague Prof. Erik Nielson, University of Richmond, for his Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary Emmy nomination as Producer on "As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial"
www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/2...

The fine folk at Salt Lick Incubator invited me to join their Leadership Council and I didn’t even let Liza finish the pitch before I accepted. They're just the type of people and organization I want to work with.

Visit www.saltlickincubator.org to see how we support indie artists.

Chicago’s Michelada Fest Cancels Due to ‘Uncertainty’ Around Artist Visas & ‘Political Climate’ Michelada Fest, set to take place in Chicago July 19-20, has been cancelled due to the "uncertainty" around the current "political climate."

This may not be a stated goal of current immigration policy, but silencing expressions of culture that are considered minority is an absolutely foreseeable outcome, and immigration is now a censorship weapon. Maybe it always was.

Thank you, Griselda Flores.

Here Are All The Ways The Recording Academy Impacted The Music Community In 2024: GRAMMY Impact Report | GRAMMY.com The recently published 2024 GRAMMY Impact Report showcases all the ways the Recording Academy supports its members and the wider music community on a year-round basis, from professional development an...

Not just being a member but contributing to advocacy efforts of the Recording Academy has been a great privilege. I'm extremely proud of the work done to forward legislation in states nationwide to address the use of art as evidence in criminal trials.
www.grammy.com/news/2024-gr...

APNewsBreak: Woman tells police Steve Wynn raped her in '70s A woman has told police she had a child with casino mogul Steve Wynn after he raped her, while another has reported she was forced to resign from a Las Vegas job after she refused to have sex with him...

The original article in question

apnews.com/general-news...

Wynn v. The Associated Press Steve Wynn, a prominent figure in Nevada gaming and politics, filed a defamation lawsuit against The Associated Press (AP) and its reporter, Regina Garcia Cano. The lawsuit stemmed from an article pub...

Wynn petitioned SCOTUS after Nevada's high court dismissed a 2018 lawsuit against the AP related to an article published that reported on police records from the '70s that included allegations of sexual misconduct against him. Wynn has firmly denied the allegations.

law.justia.com/cases/nevada...