Canadian media under attack, sign the petition

Big Canadian ISP companies make money on every byte of data for the news, information and entertainment consumed by Canadians, but share none of it with Canadian news outlets and other Canadian content creators — Media Action Plan

Spotify seeks to restructure US$1B debt

Investors can convert their debt to equity at a 20% discount of Spotify’s IPO share price — Hypebot

Spotify settles $43M class-action suit

In a major victory for indie musicians, the combined class action lawsuits against Spotify brought by Cracker frontman and artist advocate David Lowery and singer/songwriter Melissa Ferrick have been settled with the music streamer establishing a $43.4 million fund to compensate songwriters and publishers whose work had been used by the service without proper licensing — Hypebot

 Aboriginal leader joins News Media Council

George E. Lafond is a member of the Muskeg Lake (Treaty 6) Cree Nation in Saskatchewan and former elected Tribal and Vice-Tribal Chief for the Saskatoon Tribal Council.

Facebook joins Amazon in banning sale of Kodi boxes

The social network will no longer allow the sale of the devices as pressure builds from producers, sports promoters and trading standards to stop them being widely available to the public — Variety

Could Canadiens games be moving to TSN?

James Duthie may be regretting letting that one slip. Duthie, the TSN television host, said this during an appearance on the Sports Illustrated media podcast last week with Richard Deitsch, after being asked how the $5.2-billion Sportsnet-NHL deal has affected his network — Fagstein

Ryan Seacrest re-signs with iHeartRadio for US$73M

The three-year deal comes with a new NYC studio allowing him to keep his new gig with Kelly Ripa — Radar Online

Seacrest feels short-changed by Katy Perry ‘Idol’ deal

The media superstar is reportedly getting far less than the whopping US$25M deal the singer will earn in the new season — NY Daily News

iHeartMedia debt holder unease grows

The creditors want an ownership stake in the radio giant in exchange for forgiving some of the $20 billion in debt — but that equity stake offer has not yet been made — NY Post

Videotron appeals CRTC ruling to stop offering unlimited music service

Videotron has stopped selling or renewing the plans, but asked the CRTC to grandfather the existing plans until the subscribers have paid off their handsets or at least give it more time to implement the changes — Financial Post

Worth Noting

R&R swinging DJs from the ‘60s

3-book series is a twenty-five-year tribute (1954-1979) and legacy to those pioneering behind-the-microphone icons of our Golden Days of Rock & Roll Radio--the deejays who brightened our mornings and capped off our nights — LinDee Rochelle, Amazon books

Disney made more last year than any studio ever

The Walt Disney Studios will become the first studio ever to reach the $7 billion threshold at the global box office, setting a new industry record. With a powerful $290 million global debut for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Disney's year-to-date grosses are $6,988.3 million from Jan. 1 through Dec. 18, 2016, including $2,700.4 million domestically, also an industry record, and $4,287.9 million internationally, a Disney record — TechDirt

Geist on ‘safe harbour’ provision and so-called ‘value gap’

Michael Geist argues with Miranda Mullholland’s Economic Club of Canada plea to re-balance the drift that gives big tech firms the upper hand in how they manage creative content – Blog

Miranda Mullholland speech to the Economic Club of Canada – Listen and watch

Copyright ruling called ‘bad news for consumers, bad news for Canada’

Internet service providers are bracing for a flood of requests to turn over the identities of subscribers that allegedly download pirated movies after a court decision some Internet policy experts warn will increase “copyright trolling” in Canada at the expense of consumers — Emily Jackson, Financial Post

Fair use copyright reforms essential in a world of technological change

Fair use would also better align with reasonable consumer expectations about uses of copyright material that do no harm to rights holders' interests, and promote understanding and respect for the law — The Age, Australia

Macca goes to court to reclaim Beatles copyrights

McCartney has sued the music publishing division of Sony Corp. in federal court. The case involves copyrights for 267 Beatles songs written between 1962 and 1970 — FreeAdvice