Warner Music Sued By Jesus And Mary Chain Over Copyrights (Reuters)
Scottish rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain has sued Warner Music Group in Los Angeles federal court, alleging WMG failed to comply with the band's notice that it was terminating the label's interest in its music. (Continue at Reuters.com)

Here's Why Dwight Yoakam Is Suing His Old Record Label (Rolling Stone)
The country star is fighting Warner Music Group to regain rights to songs off his 1986 hit album, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
Fans who try to stream Dwight Yoakam's "Honky Tonk Man" and "Miner's Prayer" on Apple Music found the songs removed from the service, with Warner Music Group (WMG) allegedly taking down the music to, according to a legal complain filed on Monday, "spite" the country star. (Continue at RollingStone.com)

Sony Suing Musicians for Allowing Attorney to Use Album Artwork (Hollywood Reporter)
In a battle over copyright termination, Sony says Evan Cohen can't use his client's art to advertise his business.
Copyright termination has become a big deal — and now the provision of law that allows authors to reclaim their works after 35 years is getting quite nasty. Check out what Sony Music just filed in New York Federal Court. (Continue at HollywoodReporter.com)

Judge Will Clarify Whether Many Musicians Can Later Reclaim Rights From Record Labels (Hollywood Reporter)
A New York federal judge agrees to entertain a declaratory judgment in a proposed class action over copyright termination rights.
A lawsuit that seeks to vindicate the copyright termination rights of UMG recording artists continues to take shape. On Monday, a New York federal judge allowed an amended complaint that includes a request for declaratory relief for a proposed class of musicians who in the coming decade may have the ability to reclaim rights to their recorded works. (Continue at HollywoodReporter.com)

1970s-era Musicians Sue Sony, UMG To Reclaim Song Rights (Reuters)
David Johansen, John Waite and other prominent 1970s musicians filed lawsuits on Tuesday accusing Sony Music Entertainment Inc and UMG Recordings Inc of improperly refusing to let them reclaim rights to songs they had long ago signed away.
The proposed class actions filed in Manhattan federal court said U.S. copyright law gives songwriters who bargained away their works on unfavorable terms a “second chance” to reclaim their rights by filing termination notices after 35 years. (Continue at Reuters.com)

Sony and Universal Face Class Action Lawsuits From Artists Seeking Ownership of Their Music (Pitchfork)
Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group are facing new class-action copyright infringement lawsuits filed by artists seeking ownership of their music, Music Business Worldwide reports. The lawsuits against the two labels—viewed by Pitchfork—were filed on February 5 by the New York Dolls’ David Johansen, John Waite, Southside Johnny, the Nerves' Paul Collins, and Joe Ely.
The lawsuits cite Section 203 of the Copyright Act of 1976, which gives recording artists the opportunity to terminate grants of copyright ownership 35 years after a recording’s initial release. (Continue at Pitchfork.com)

Inside the Secretive, Difficult Struggle Between Artists & Labels Over Album Copyrights (Billboard)
Four years after copyright reversion for albums released after 1978 became a possibility, only a handful of artists have regained their masters. What’s the holdup?
Todd Rundgren is on a mission rarely accomplished by music stars: he wants the copyrights to his albums back.
So recently, when the 69-year-old rocker got a call from Copyright Termination Experts offering to help him free of charge, he accepted. The outfit showed him how to file notices with the U.S. Copyright office to retrieve ownership of some of the music he released more than three decades ago with Warner Music Group. (Continue at Billboard.com)

How To Get Your Copyrights Back From Your Label or Publisher (Digital Music News)
There’s a little known section in the US Copyright Act of 1976 enabling any copyright owner to get their rights back after 35 years.
Meaning, if you wrote or released a song with a label or a publishing company after January 1st 1978, you can terminate your agreement and get all your rights back. It doesn’t matter if you have unrecouped royalties or not. You can cut ties, free and clear, and get everything back. Boom!
Most musicians and songwriters don’t know about this – and the labels and publishers would like to keep it that way. Obviously. So they are attempting to keep this quiet. But attorney Evan Cohen is starting to blow this up. (Continue at digitalmusicnews.com)

Getting Your Grooves Back: Understanding Copyright Termination by Evan Cohen (Variety)   
There is a powerful law causing quiet yet uneasy waves in the music industry, and it’s something the record companies would rather recording artists not know about.
For recordings released after 1977, the law is a section of the Copyright Act that allows recording artists to terminate their record contracts after 35 years. It also allows songwriters to terminate their music publishing deals after 35 years. It’s usually called copyright termination, but it’s not the copyrights that are being terminated, it’s the grant of rights to the record company that is being terminated. That old, awful record contract from 1980? Gone — at least as the contract applies to the United States. On the first day of the 36th year, the band owns the recording, free and clear. That is a very powerful position, to say the least. (Continue at Variety.com)

Joe interviews Evan about current issues regarding the termination of grants of copyright interests under Section 203 of the Copyright Act of 1976. Specifically, the discussion is about the rights of musicians and songwriters with regard to the termination of record contracts and music publishing agreements, entered into after 1978, and the timing of the terminations after 35 years.