This article is from WeChat public account:Music first sound (ID: nakedmusic), author: triple triple II, editors: Fan Zhihui, cover from: Oriental IC

The copyright dispute between Taylor Swift and the former company Big Machine has a new follow-up.

On November 18th, Big Machine issued a statement to the National Public Radio (NPR). According to the statement, “Big Machine has reached an agreement with the production company Dick Clark (National Music Award Producer) for a license agreement. By the time, “the recordings of the artists who have already been canceled do not need to obtain additional company licenses on television or any other live performances.” However, this statement was quickly hit by Dick Clark production company.

On the same day, Dick Clark Production Company subsequently issued a statement to Rolling Stone magazine denying the statement issued by Big Machine: “Dick Clark Production Company has never agreed to cooperate with Big Machine Records, nor Enter into any agreement regarding the production, licensing or release of Taylor Swift’s performance at the 2019 National Music Awards.Any final agreement on the matter needs to be reached directly with the management team of Taylor Swift, and we have no comment.

In fact, the copyright dispute on Taylor Swift has been intermittently suspended for half a year on social media, and many of the rights competitions that have been extended during this period have industry-exploratory significance.

Taylor Swift copyrights rights disputes under Rashomon

The cause of all this is due to June this year. Kanye West(Taylor Swift is dead) Former broker Scooter Braun acquired the former Taylor Swift company for $300 million through its holding company, Ithaca Holdings Big Machine, the company owns the recording rights to her first six albums.

But this is a legally compliant acquisition, but because of a post by Taylor Swift in Tumblr, it has become a public opinion dispute on social media. In the post, Taylor Swift claimed that he had not been told in advance that the company was about to be acquired. At the same time, the former company used the recording rights of the six albums to threaten to renew the contract, and even exchanged a new album for the condition of an old album. Come and keep Taylor Swift. But considering the potential risks, Taylor Swift had to give up its recording copyright and switch to Universal Music’s label.

In order to be able to re-own their own recording rights, Taylor Swift wants to take a plan to re-record early music. According to foreign media reports, according to industry practice, the recording works can not be re-recorded within five years, but in addition to the sixth album, Taylor is left.The 5 albums have passed this time limit. In other words, the new version of the recording copyright will be completely owned by herself and can be reissued.

It is clear that the former company Big Machine is not willing to watch the recording rights of the recordings on hand quickly depreciate. On November 7th, Taylor Swift issued a statement on social media saying that Big Machine and its former boss and Scooter Braun did not allow her to perform her old songs at the National Music Awards and Tmall Double Eleven, and also in the Netflix documentary. Fragments of previous music cannot appear unless Taylor agrees not to re-record the first six albums.

So, why does Big Machine limit Taylor Swift to show his old songs on the public platform? In the US Copyright Law, “recorded works” and “speech products” are clearly divided. A “recorded product” is a physical object of a fixed recording, and a “recorded work” refers to a work composed of sound fixed on a medium such as a record. Since the record company has been in a relatively strong position in the development of the record industry, the music song works and the recorded works are in a parallel relationship, so the owner of the recording copyright also has the right to public performance, which can also limit the public performance of the work (including in the form of numbers).

Therefore, Taylor wants to play old songs, or to play old songs in new film and television works, the need to pass the permission of the former company. Thus, the statement and denial mentioned at the outset were produced.