Jenny Toomey
Jenny has spent most of her time speaking and writing about music/technology
issues. She participated in panels at the American Assembly, Harvard’s
Berkman Center, Temple Law School and Washington Area Lawyers for
the Arts. She has been writing extensively to contribure to the new
artist’s area of the FMC website focusing mostly on The Wall of Shame
and the critique of major label contracts. She has also been working
to try to organize all of the PROs (BMI/ASCAP/SESAC), the musician
unions, the artists’ groups and the webcasters to present a unified
front behind the four points outlined in the FMC’s recent Senate Judiciary
testimony. Jenny was recently asked to participate on the board of
Public Knowledge, an organization that is working to preserve the
information commons. On a rocker note, she also completed the mastering
on her new double album which will be released in the fall on Misra
Records and did a 5 date tour of the east coast with a 6 person band.
Her performance on WFMU should soon be archived on their http://www.wfmu.org/ site.
Michael Bracy
Over the past month we have continued to be impressed with the level
of interest on Capitol Hill to both understand these complicated issues
and to work toward creative solutions. We will continue our educational
meetings on the Hill throughout the summer, and will also begin expanding
to relevant agencies, like the NEA, FCC, NTIA and the Copyright Office.
It is clear that policymakers here in Washington enjoy the opportunity
to learn more about this space and brainstorm on ways to improve artists’
ability to make a living.
Walter McDonough
Walter has been traveling back and forth across North America speaking
at music conferences and law schools. He has recently participated
in panels at the Harvard Law School Journal of Law and Technology
Forum, Suffolk Law School, and the NEMO Music Conference (among others).
Walter has been continuing his research into international copyright
law and how it impacts musicians. As always, the FMC is looking for
attorneys and law students to assist with our efforts. The current
research topics are focusing on how artists, producers and independent
record labels are paid by foreign governments. Those who are interested
should contact Walter McDonough at digitalmusiclaw [at] yahoo [dot] com.
Brian Zisk
Brian’s been working hard on a project which will hopefully create
a new economic reality, one which financially benefits artists who
have been able to retain their rights. He’s also been writing articles
(which will appear on the new website, as well as in publications
such as Streaming Magazine) addressing such topics as what the non-interactive
restrictions in the statuatory webcast license were designed to accomplish,
and how instead they are being used as a stick to deter innovation.
Kristin Thomson
Kristin has recently finished graduate school, in the process winning
an Urban Affairs and Public Policy Alumni Award that recognized her
thesis research on “The Internet as an Agent of Change” and her contributions
of usable social knowledge. Now with more free time, Kristin has been
working on the FMC website redesign, the creation of the health insurance
survey, some more interviews and articles, and some of the logistics
on the upcoming FMC events. If you want a PDF of her thesis sent to
you (not all at once, now!) send her an email at tsunamismr [at] aol [dot] com.
Peter DiCola
Peter DiCola has received a grant from the John M. Olin Center for
Law and Economics at the University of Michigan to study compulsory
licenses for digital music and their possible effects on the labor
market for musicians. He will also be revising an article about MP3.com
and its community of musicians.