Ever find yourself in a situation where a hot court decision drops but you have precious little time for a proper analysis? That was exactly the case this week, when your steadfast FMC’ers found ourselves with an appeals ruling in Viacom’s high-profile case against YouTube. The decision just dropped yesterday, but dammit, we like to be first in analysis! (OK, maybe second; Public Knowledge is pretty quick on the draw.)

The following is the gist of the case and the April 5, 2012 decision by the 2nd Circuit Court of appeals. read more

Readers of this blog are probably familiar with the concept of “net neutrality” and why it matters to musicians. But let us remind you anyway.

All of the amazing internet tools that musicians and music entrepreneurs use every day are a result of the open internet, which gives anyone a license to innovate. Without basic protections to preserve this dynamic, the internet we know and love could become extinct. We’ve seen that movie before: just look at commercial broadcast radio to see what happens when just a few powerful companies control access to audiences and what content is even available. read more

[This post is by FMC legal intern Margo Varona]

In July of 2011, several Internet Service Providers (ISPs) announced a “Memorandum of Understanding” with the major content industries. In essence, the ISPs agreed to implement a “graduated response” policy to educate and potentially penalize internet users sharing or downloading unauthorized content. Our initial statment on the Copyright Alert System (CAS) lives here. read more

[This post is by FMC contributor Daniel Eno]

Chris Naoum is the co-founder of Listen Local First (LLF), a Washington DC music initiative that supports the local music community through facilitating partnerships with local businesses. He’s also the former policy counsel for FMC. We talked to Chris about the initiative and LLF’s newest project, the Mobile Music Venue, which will create a new platform to promote DC musicians at this year’s SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. read more