Judge Declares Ringtones Not Considered Performances, Cell Phone Companies Need Not Pay Royalties
By Annapocalypse on 10-19-2009
This federal court ruling goes out to all those idiots who think anyone would actually want to hear their cell phone blast the new Kid Cudi song through their shitty one-inch speaker: this week, a federal court ruled that ringtones that are played aloud in public are not an actual performance of an artist’s song, so therefore cell phone providers do not have to pay royalties on them. In the ruling, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote acknowledged the fact that the cell phone provider both has no control over when a ringtone is played and earns no money when it is played.
Oddly enough, what would seem like an obvious case was actually an argument brought to light by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) earlier this year when it decided to sue several U.S. cell phone providers in order to force them to pay royalties whenever a “performance,” or ringtone, was played. Its argument was that the download rights that providers were already paying weren’t enough. But the court shot down ASCAP because it failed to show infringement of providers or its customers, ruling that a ringtone is not a public performance, like how a radio on the beach blasting the new Kid Cudi song is not considered one either.
Cursive Announce Fall Tourdates, Your Turn-of-the-Millennium Inner-Child is Getting PUUUMPED
By Nobodaddy on 10-19-2009
Oh, Cursive, Cursive, Cursive... What are we supposed do with you? On the up side, literally almost everyone I know used to listen to you religiously eight or nine years ago. On the down side, that was, you know, eight or nine years ago...
But hey, you’re still here! Rockin’ out, then, are you? How is post-rock these days? “Good?” That’s super. And you released a new record this year after a few years’ absence called Mama, I’m Swolen (TMT Review) on Saddle Creek? What does that sound like, man? Oh right... Cursive... Oh well, hopefully I’ll have a chance to get it from Napster a little later or something. Shouldn’t take too long with my T1 line. I’m not sure what else I have going on today, though.
But for real though, good luck with your headlining dates next month, beginning November 24 at the good old Bottleneck in good old Lawrence, KS. I wonder if that one sticker is still there? You know the one I mean. Ah, and I see that you’re wrapping up on the 13th at the Waiting Room in your home town of Omaha, Nebraska, that magical manila-colored City that my friends and I used to want to visit. How’s the scene there, anyway? Post-rocky, I bet.
Oh, but I hear that the Omaha show is for this Lash's 6th Annual Toy Drive thing and that it’s an annual benefit show organized by Omaha musician Larry Dunn for the children of the Porcupine District of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, a.k.a. one of the most impoverished communities in the U.S. Apparently, donations (a.k.a. toys) will be accepted at the show and 100% of those proceeds will go toward buying additional gifts and holiday stockings. Okay, now that’s pretty unassailably cool.
Anyway, I’ll catch you later, Cursive. Right now I’ve got to set up my VCR to record Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? tonight, and programming that thing just always takes for EVER.
Cursive tour:
10.26.09 - Tokyo, Japan - Shibuya O-Nest
10.27.09 - Tokyo Japan - Shindaita Fever
11.24.09 - Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck
11.25.09 - Springfield, MO - Outland Ballroom
11.27.09 - Denton, TX - Hailey’s
11.28.09 - Austin, TX - Mohawk
11.29.09 - McAllen, TX - Cine El Rey
12.03.09 - Mobile, AL - Alabama Music Box
12.04.09 - Pensacola, FL - Sluggo’s
12.05.09 - Orlando, FL - The Social
12.06.09 - Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds
12.07.09 - Atlanta, GA - Lenny’s
12.08.09 - Oxford, MS - Proud Larry’s
12.09.09 - Little Rock, AR - The Rev Room
12.10.09 - Fayetteville, AR - George’s Majestic Lounge
12.11.09 - Columbia, MO - Mojo’s
12.13.09 - Omaha, NE - Waiting Room (Lash's 6TH Annual Toy Drive)
Starfucker Randomly Decide to Drop Name, and Go with PYRAMID Instead
By Rachel B on 10-19-2009
Starfucker, Portland's electro-pop project, have decided to change their band name to PYRAMID, after launching a "name change contest," in which fans suggested new ideas for what Starfucker's name should be. (Other suggestions that didn't make the cut: Rad Stewert, Emergency Landing, $.89 for a Taco, and LVLS.)
Starfucker-- oops, I mean, PYRAMID will be playing one last show as Starfucker at Portland’s Wonder Ballroom this coming Halloween (oh wait, so I did mean Starfucker). PYRAMID's first action as their new persona will then be to self-release their first UK single, titled "Medicine," which currently appears on the Jupiter EP.
If you ask me, Starfucker are in a strange place to be changing their name so suddenly. They've gained moderate attention via their original name and have nowhere to go but up by using it. I suppose they aren't quite well-known enough to gain LOTS of attention, which I'm guessing is their reason for making the switcharoo in the first place. I'm also guessing that the most this name change will do is baffle people. So, here is Starfucker: caught between a famous-but-not-famous-enough rock and a hard place and wanting to change their name. But it just feels like the awkward turtle attempt to look more accessible. Whatevs!
PYRAMID's leftover tourdates are below.
10.31.09 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
11.19.09 - Bristol, UK - Start the Bus
11.20.09 - London, UK - The Garage
11.21.09 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso
11.22.09 - Paris, FR - Point Ephemere*
11.24.09 - London, UK - Flowerpot
11.25.09 - London, UK - Dingwalls^
11.26.09 - London, UK - Notting Hill Arts Club
* Golden Silvers
^ The Filthy Dukes
