To promote the organisation, and encourage participation, Amb:IT:ion Scotland is running a series of roadshow workshops around the country. The first one is at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness on Thursday 18 March. SMIA board member Dougal Perman is presenting a seminar about online promotion with his colleague Andy McColgan. The seminar, entitled See and be Seen, Hear and be Heard, will be a practical session taking participants through how to use a suite of freely available online services as part of a social media marketing strategy. Dougal and Andy delivered two related seminars at Scotland on Tour and Showcase Scotland during Celtic Connections.

The event also features a keynote speech by freelance writer and consultant to the BBC, Bill Thompson, advice sessions from the Intellectual Assets Centre and New Media Scotland, amongst others. For more information on the event, and to register, go to their Event Brite page:

getambitionroadshow-north.eventbrite.com/
getambition.com/
innerear.co.uk/events/getting-digital-roadshow-north/

Registration is free and Amb:IT:ion Scotland welcome SMIA members.

As previously reported, Viacom argue that YouTube should be liable for the copyright infringement that occurs in the time that lapses between a user uploading a bit of MTV content to the video sharing website, Viacom spotting the content and YouTube taking said content down. But YouTube argue that under US copyright law – these are American cases – providing the video site takes down infringing content as soon as it is alerted of its presence on their system, they are not liable for any infringement.

The Google-owned service also add that they have been busy developing increasingly sophisticated technology so that copyright owners who do not wish to have a licensing arrangement with the video site can register their content into a database so that, in theory, if anyone tries to upload said content it will be automatically blocked.
The Viacom case is ongoing, though Google would probably point you in the direction of Universal Music’s lawsuit against the recently defunct YouTube rival Veoh, in which the major label made similar accusations about that video site, but lost their case.

Prince, though, still reckons he has a case, apparently. According to The Brisbane Times, he argues that YouTube’s filters to block copyright infringing content are ineffective. Noting that the service’s porn filters seem to work much better, he alleges that it is in YouTube’s interest to be a bit shoddy when it comes to policing the upload of unlicensed music content, because it means the unlicensed content is available until the copyright owner spots it, enhancing the service’s consumer offer during that time period.

YouTube disagree, of course. They are quoted thus: “Most content owners understand that we respect copyrights. We work every day to help them manage their content, and we are developing state-of-the-art tools to let them do that even better”.

Claiming he is simply trying to “reclaim his art on the internet”, Prince’s people say the purple one is also planning legal action against eBay and The Pirate Bay, yeah good luck with the latter. As much previously reported, despite being a genuine innovator when it comes to engaging fans on the internet and using digital distribution to cut out record companies in the album release process, Prince nevertheless employs his lawyers against internet ventures in much the same way as a major record company. On one occasion he threatened to sue a fan site for posting photos of him.

http://newsblog.thecmuwebsite.com/

Up to now, PPL has at its discretion operated a policy of seeking to distribute monies to members relating to sound recording usage from as far back as 1996 (or in respect of record company members, from the date of joining PPL). This has previously applied even where income relates to usage falling outside the six year statutory limitation period.

http://www.ppluk.com/en/Newsletters/newsletter-feb-2010/Stories/You-could-benefit-from-old-monies-held/

On the show, Stuart proposed his idea for a new annual award to celebrate Scottish Album of the Year.

Membership is free until 1 September 2010 so please join and help shape the association.

The SMIA is now gladly accepting membership registration. To find out more and become a member, please go to the Join page.

We look forward to working with you.

• Be recognised as representing the latest number and widest range of music businesses and organisations in Scotland
• Be recognised as the authoritative voice for Scotland’s music industry by the Scottish Government and its public agencies
• Assist the industry develop self-help initiatives and representative structures
• Act as a point of communication between the music industry and a wide range of stakeholders, bodies and organisations including the education sector and broadcasters