Revenue from streaming music platforms in the U.S. jumped 30 percent to $7.4 billion in 2018, contributing three-quarters of industry sales, while downloaded tracks and albums fell for the sixth straight year to $1.04 billion, RIAA reported Thursday. Streaming services comprised virtually all industry revenue growth for the year from paid subscription services, advertising-supported on-demand services such as Spotify, and from streaming radio companies, including those that distribute revenue through SoundExchange, such as SiriusXM and Pandora. Adoption of paid subscription services grew 42 percent, passing 50 million subscribers for the first time, RIAA said. Services averaged 1 million new subscriptions per month. Total 2018 subscription revenue rose 32 percent to $5.4 billion, including $747 million revenue from “limited tier” paid subscriptions, such as Amazon Prime and Pandora Plus. Permanent album downloads fell 25 percent to $500 million, and individual track sales slid 28 percent to $490 million. At just over $1 billion, downloaded tracks and albums were 11 percent of total 2018 revenue vs. 42 percent in 2013. Revenue from physical products shipments dropped 23 percent to $1.15 billion, with CD revenue falling 34 percent to $698 million, their first sub-$1 billion year since 1986. Vinyl records tallied $419 million, 8 percent higher than the prior year and the highest since 1988. Vinyl generated more than a third of physical-format revenue. There's "rejuvenation in the industry," blogged RIAA CEO Mitch Glazier. Yet "many challenges" remain as nearing $10 billion in revenue "only returns U.S. music to its 2007 levels," he wrote. "Stream-ripping, and a lack of accountability for many Big Tech companies that drive down the value of music, remain serious threats as the industry strives for additional growth." For the Internet Association, "it's great to see the music industry acknowledge that internet-enabled music distribution is a bright spot," an IA spokesperson emailed. "Internet innovation has fostered a record bounceback for the music industry, and our members are proud of the work they do to enable more consumers to legally enjoy music to the benefit of everyone in the ecosystem."

Modifications to EU copyright law moved forward Tuesday as the European Parliament Legal Affairs Committee approved a compromise hammered out in "trilogue" talks among the EU, Council and Parliament. The deal, reached Feb. 13 (see 1902130059), now needs approval from the full parliament, expected to vote in March or April. The fierce lobbying provoked by several provisions -- Article 11, which creates a new right for news publishers, and Article 13, adding copyright-policing responsibilities on content-sharing platforms -- continued after the committee vote. “The text, as agreed in Trilogue, would modernise copyright with a proportionate approach that does not stifle digital innovation,” said the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association, European Magazine Media Association, European Publishers’ Council and News Media Europe. They pressed EU lawmakers to "vote in support of Europe's vital cultural and media landscape." The copyright system was established "in the infancy of the internet" when platforms could exploit content created and produced by others without permission or payment, said the Federation of European Publishers: To perpetuate that system would be unfair. European Digital Rights relaunched SaveYourInternet.eu, which it said has become "the main platform for concerned citizens who want to contact EU policy makers about the proposed implementation of upload filters." It urged Europeans to "consider parliamentarians' stance on Article 13 when voting for the European Parliament election in May." It's unclear "whether further lobbying of [European Parliament members] results in any of the controversial provisions being excised" at the final plenary stage, emailed Hogan Lovells (London) IP attorney Alastair Shaw.

Chipmaker Marvell Technology Group is the 21st licensor to join Via Licensing’s LTE patent pool, said the pool administrator Tuesday. The pool “offers the industry a fair, transparent, and cost-effective means to obtain a license” to all LTE-essential patents, said Via. The program is royalty-free for the first 100,000 unit shipments of smartphones and tablets. Fees rise progressively to $2.10 per unit for shipments exceeding 2.5 million devices.

Two federal circuit rulings allowing a company to use copyright to block access to application programming interfaces harms innovation, the Computer & Communications Industry Association argued Monday. CCIA asked the Supreme Court to hear Oracle v. Google, a case (see 1803280059) deciding whether copyright can be used to block communication between software programs. The case stems from a copyright lawsuit filed nearly a decade ago by Oracle seeking to block Google’s API access.

The Locast service streaming broadcast signals in a small number of cities (see 1801110026) isn't now a big disruptive business threat to broadcasters but could spur a legislative battle over rewriting broadcast video rules, New Street Research analyst Blair Levin wrote investors Thursday. He said the Satellite TV Extension and Localism Act reauthorization this year could be a vehicle for some broadcasters to try to bar the type of signal retransmission that Locast is doing. He said opening that door could lead to attempts to get other amendments into a reauthorization bills that could end must carry or revise retransmission consent.

Sony will apply to trademark a new 8K HDR logo and “allow it to run its official process” at the Patent and Trademark Office, spokesperson Cheryl Goodman emailed us Tuesday. The new logo, unveiled at CES, differs slightly from the octagonal 8K HDR mark that PTO rejected on grounds that it was “merely descriptive” of Sony’s goods. The agency also cited trademark case law in ruling that the logo's black and gold graphics didn’t “create an inherently distinctive commercial impression.” PTO declared the application abandoned Feb. 2 after Sony let lapse the six-month deadline for challenging the refusal (see 1902040020). Sony ran into similar problems at PTO trying to trademark the 4K HDR logo it introduced three years ago at CES (see 1601060049). The agency killed that application Feb. 4. The 4K HDR logo is “freely available for use,” said Goodman.

The U.S., UK and Sweden have the strongest intellectual property systems, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported Thursday. They had respective overall scores of 37.98, 37.97 and 37.03, based on “40 discrete indicators covering policy, law, regulation, and enforcement.” CEO David Hirschmann said the scores seek to determine if the IP systems “provide a reliable basis for investment in the innovation and creativity lifecycle.” China ranked 25th with 19.08 and Russia 29th with 17.29.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is working to reintroduce the Small-Claims Enforcement (Case) Act (see 1804240071) but wants to secure a lead Republican sponsor to replace retired Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., Jeffries told us Wednesday (see 1901170048). The bill as originally written would establish a voluntary small claims board within the Copyright Office, allowing copyright owners an alternative to bringing infringement claims to federal court. Jeffries noted support for the bill from House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., and former Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. “We’re committed to getting that [bill] done,” Collins told us. Jeffries said he’s in talks with several offices to decide who’s in the best position to lead Republicans. Collins said he supports the bill but wants another Republican to work on the legislation. The bill last year had 10 Democrat and six Republican sponsors.

The Copyright Office requests comment by March 7 on an NPRM for the Music Modernization Act's Classics Protection and Access Act portion (see 1809180057), it said Tuesday. Copyright Royalty Judges Tuesday announced final determination of rates and terms (see 1803190036) for “making and distributing phonorecords” Jan. 1, 2018-Dec. 31, 2022.

Global enterprise and consumer spending on information and communication technologies will grow 4 percent yearly, reaching $4.6 trillion by 2022, IDC forecast Monday. Business ICT spending will get “caught in the crossfire of headwinds and tailwinds over the next five years as a softening global economy puts pressure on the ability of organizations to increase technology budgets,” it said: Amid "the U.S.-China trade war," the many businesses "increasingly dependent on China" could "continue their pivot away from the U.S." while "the conflict opens up opportunities to increase exports to the U.S." Commercial and government customers will be about 64 percent of total ICT spending by 2022, consumers the rest, it said: “Increasing saturation” in smartphones and tablets will cause consumer spending growth to “lag behind” spending elsewhere.