On June 2, working families, labor leaders, members of Congress, and community allies gathered at the AFL-CIO headquarters, behind the White House, and unveiled a giant banner with two simple requests: “show us the text” and “show us the jobs.” If TPP is in fact the “most progressive trade deal in history,” which will lead to the creation of 700,000 jobs, why aren’t Americans being allowed to read it? After the unveiling, rally attendees marched to the US Trade Representatives office to ask to read the text. The normally open door was locked and when the workers knocked there was no answer. The workers promised a mass calling of Congress on June 2. Do your part and tell Congress to stop Fast Track and the bargaining of trade deals behind closed doors.
Tag Archives: recent news
USPS/APWU Reach Impass
The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and USPS failed to reach an agreement before the expiration of the current contract in May. According to an APWU news bulletin the USPS is insisting on severe cuts in pay and benefits, though progress has been made on many non-economic issues. “Management’s economic demands and proposed changes to the workforce structure were completely unacceptable,” says APWU President Mark Dimondstein.
Among the Postal Service proposals are:
- eliminate of current cost-of-living adjustments.
- Increased employee contribution to healthcare.
- Permanent lower payscale for future career employees with reduced benefits.
- Increased percentage of noncareer employees.
- Weakened layoff protection.
APWU proposals include fair and reasonable wage increases, limits on subcontracting, more career jobs, improvements for Postal Support Employees, limits on excessing, and better service for our customers, explains Dimondstein. The talks will now go to mediation.
New York Creates Fast Food Wage Board
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has created a Fast Food Wage Board to investigate and make recommendations on an increase in the minimum wage for the fast food industry. The board is set to hold four public hearings in June before it issues its recommendations this summer. The recommendations will be subject to approval of Cuomo’s labor commissioner and cannot be blocked by legislature.
According to the Associated Press, the New York State Restaurant Association is critical of the panel. Association President and CEO Melissa Fleischut says Friday that she believes Cuomo has already decided to increase the minimum wage for fast-food workers and that the wage board process is just a formality.
“The minimum wage is supposed to be a wage that allows people who work full-time to earn a decent living and provide for their family—but for too many fast-food workers, that is simply not the case,” says Cuomo. “We must raise the minimum wage to restore that promise of opportunity and help people across the state move beyond poverty. With this Wage Board, New York is stepping up for fast food workers, and we are going to challenge every state in the nation to follow our lead in doing what is right and what is fair.”
AFM Sues Studios over Illegal Reuse of Soundtrack Clips
The AFM is suing six major studios (Columbia, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Walt Disney, and Warner Brothers) for reusing film soundtrack clips in other films and television programs without appropriately compensating musicians.
“Our agreements obligate the studios to make additional payments to musicians when soundtracks are reused and AFM members are entitled to receive the benefit of that bargain,” says AFM President Ray Hair. “Our efforts to resolve these contract violations and missing payments have been unproductive, so we are looking to the courts for relief.”
The lawsuit cites numerous examples of the studios violating their collective bargaining agreements by reusing film scores without paying musicians including:
- Columbia using music from Karate Kid in an episode of the television series Happy Endings;
- Disney using music from Beauty and the Beast and The Muppet Movie in the television series The Neighbors;
- Fox using music from Titanic in the film This Means War;
- Paramount using music from Up in the Air in the film Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story;
- Universal using music from Bourne Identity in the television series The Office; and
- Warner Brothers using music from Battle for the Planet of the Apes in the film Argo.
In the lawsuit the AFM is seeking damages for all losses, including prejudgment interest. You can read the entire complaint on the AFM website.
NMPA Sues Wolfgang’s Vault Over Copyright Infringement
The National Music Publishers’ Association has filed a copyright infringement suit against Wolfgang’s Vault on behalf of several music publishers. Wolfgang’s Vault disseminates concert videos and audio recordings through multiple websites, including ConcertVault.com, Daytrotter.com and MusicVault.com, as well as YouTube.
Wolfgang’s Vault claims to hold the “largest collection of live audio and video recordings online,” however much of the content is not properly licensed. Their websites attract around 50,000 visitors per day.
“The Wolfgang’s Vault websites have profited in large part because of the significant use of unlicensed music, primarily concert footage, available on their sites,” says David Israelite, President & CEO of NMPA. “Systematic copyright infringement cannot be a business model, and it is unfortunate that Wolfgang’s Vault chose not to compensate all of the creators responsible for their content. Hopefully, this lawsuit will bring publishers and many iconic songwriters the revenue they deserve for the use of their music.”
The lawsuit is part of NMPA’s continuing effort to ensure songwriters and their music publishing partners are compensated fairly and that their rights are protected. Members of NMPA have settled claims of copyright infringement with Maker Studios and Fullscreen, both large Multi-Channel Networks on YouTube. These settlements enabled music publishers and songwriters to be compensated for past copyright infringements and license works going forward.
SiriusXM Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Pre-1972 Music
US District Judge Philip Gutierrez granted a motion for a class action lawsuit over SiriusXM’s performance of pre-1972 sound recordings. The lawsuit will cover anyone who owns a pre-1972 sound recording that’s been played on the satellite radio service after August 21, 2009. According to an article in The Hollywood Reporter, the company reported more than $4 billion in revenue in 2014, with about 10% to 15% attributed to pre-1972 recordings.
SiriusXM tried to assert that because there isn’t any federal registration scheme governing pre-1972 recordings, it is hard to determine who owns what. While the plaintiffs agreed there is a need for a music licensing service to identify owners of the recordings, they identified SoundExchange, Evan M. Greenspan, Inc., and Music Reports, Inc. as entities with databases that could assist.
Gutierrez wrote: “class members can reliably identify themselves because SiriusXM has a record of the individual pre-1972 recordings that it has performed since August 21, 2009,” that “owners of the listed recordings can easily self-identify,” and “that challenges by Sirius XM will be rare because Sirius XM itself does not own recording rights or track pre-1972 recording ownership rights.”
Labor Groups Oppose ISDS in Trade Agreements
The AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labor Congress (CLC) have reaffirmed their opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and Fast Track legislation that allows no amendments and limited debate on trade deals.
Among the provisions of the trade deals, the unions find investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) especially egregious. ISDS essentially allows foreign property owners to skip domestic courts and administrative procedures in seeking taxpayer reimbursement for losses to expected profits from laws, regulations, administrative decisions, and other government measures. They can instead sue the host country through a panel of private “arbitrators.” Labor groups contend that such extreme rights to challenge democracy are not good for domestic business, citizens, nor the rule of law. The AFL-CIO and CLC say they “will not cease in our efforts to promote good jobs, raising wages, strong social safety nets, state-of-the-art public services and infrastructure, and an end to corporate power grabs like ISDS in all pending trade and investment agreements.”
For more information about Fast Track in trade deals and why groups oppose it visit: www.stopfasttrack.com. To sign a petition to tell Congress to oppose Fast Track visit: www.nofasttrack.com.
How You Can Help Stop Payola
Payola, the practice of record companies paying broadcasters to air their music on the radio, is bad for music and the music industry. It makes it nearly impossible for artists without a large label behind them to be played on commercial stations. In the past 20 years, mega broadcasters like iHeartMedia (Clear Channel), Entercom, and Cumulus have transformed commercial radio from a vibrant community forum into a virtual nationwide jukebox with the same songs and artists played over and over. Under current law, payola is only legal if it’s disclosed at the time a paid-for song is played, but that’s not to say the labels play by the rules. In 2007, investigators found such widespread evidence of payola that the broadcasters were forced to pay $12.5 million to settle claims. Now, these same broadcasters are trying to replace the required on-air disclosers with a note hidden on their station websites.
“If this were to happen, it would seal the deal for commercial radio just being a closed system for large media companies to promote their products,” Future of Music Coalition CEO Casey Rae tells The New York Times.
Find out how you can help stop payola and make your voice heard at StopPayola.com.
Proposed Bill Will Provide Musicians Fair Pay for Air Play
On April 13, AFM President Ray Hair gathered with other music industry leaders to show support for the Fair Play Fair Pay Act of 2015, introduced by representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). This monumental legislation would finally ensure that musicians are compensated fairly when their music is played on any radio platform—Internet, satellite, or traditional AM/FM. Also present at the launch were AFM International Executive Board member (IEB) and Local 257 President (Nashville, TN) David Pomeroy; IEB and Local 802 (New York City) President Tino Gagliardi; as well as representatives from the musicFIRST Coalition; record labels; and the music community.
Under the current legislation, a loophole allows AM/FM radio to play music without compensating musicians, singers, and featured artists. Internet radio and satellite radio both compensate performers, but satellite pays a lower rate. Due to another loophole, some digital services are also claiming they don’t have to pay for pre-1972 recordings. The Fair Play Fair Pay Act would level the playing field.
Above (L to R): AFM Local 802 (New York City) Member “Blue” Lou Marini; AFM President Ray Hair; AFM International Executive Board Member (IEB) and Local 257 (Nashville, TN) President David Pomeroy; US Representatives Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY); and IEB Member and Local 802 President Tino Gagliardi.
“Professional musicians should be adequately compensated for the joy we bring to the world,” says Hair. “The US is the only Western nation denying terrestrial radio performance rights to musicians, who are struggling in today’s economy. Not only is this shameful, it is costing hard-working musicians millions of dollars.”
Hair explains that the problem even extends to music played overseas. US musicians and artists are also losing millions annually because other countries that do collect performance royalties are not paying US musicians, because the US does not reciprocate to non-US artists.
“It is time for Congress to update music licensing laws,” says musicFirst Coalition Executive Director Ted Kalo. “AM/FM radio, satellite radio, and Internet radio exist side by side in car dashboards and compete for the same listeners. But whether performers or copyright owners are paid, and how much, depends solely on what button you press or app you choose. On Internet radio, it is one rate. On satellite, it is a different, lower rate. And on AM/FM, there is no rate at all—music creators get paid nothing. I think we can agree that makes no sense.”
Join the thousands of musicians and music lovers supporting this bipartisan legislation (#FairPlayFairPay), visit: musicfirst-coalition.rallycongress.com.
Local 802 Musician Plays 3D Printed Cello
It’s a crazy time we live in with technology pushing boundaries at every corner, and now it’s even capable of printing instruments. Not too long ago a violin was printed and it looks terrifyingly beautiful to say the least with its abstract design.
David Heiss of Local 802 (New York City, NY) was lucky enough to play the world’s first ever printed Cello. It also has a stylish futuristic design and only one string. Not that it holds David Heiss back from seeing what it can do.
You can watch him play the beast below (if the video doesn’t appear click here).