Beginning in 2013, rights of certain songs can revert to the original artist. The one big exception is if the song is a 'work for hire.' Sadly for artists, record labels have fraudulently declared many songs as 'works for hire' allowing them to keep ownership. Artists in this category will be screwed forever.
In the MP3tunes case we have a chance to get a ruling that these works are NOT works for hire, paving the way for artists to take ownership. What I'm looking for is an artist who has the courage to stand up on this issue — rather like Curt Flood did battling to get free agency for baseball players.
The artist list includes: Beastie Boys, Billy Idol, Blondie, Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt, Coldplay, Daft Punk, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Frank Sinatra, George Michael, Heart, Ice Cube, Janet Jackson, John Lennon, Katy Perry, Kylie Minogue, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, Massive Attack, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, R.E.M., and hundreds more.
--MR
