Speaking of blatant action (or non-action), how about the lawsuit against the Ellen DeGeneres Show and Time Warner TV? They are being sued for using music without permission or clearances from record labels. Those filing suit are Capitol, UMG, Warner Brothers and Sony. The suit says that the show has used more than a thousand popular sound recordings without securing the necessary licenses. The producers of Ellen have secured the composition rights (payable to publishers & writers), but have refused to license the sound recordings, which are the property of the labels. The type of records played cover just about every genre of music. This could get interesting and could also serve as a benchmark for lawsuits in the future.

On a much lighter side, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation announced the new class of writers to be inducted. The class consists of Kye Fleming, Mark D. Sanders and Tammy Wynette. They will be officially inducted at the annual dinner ceremonies on October 18th. We love Fleming’s “Smokey Mountain Rain” (Ronnie Milsap) and her “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” (Barbara Mandrell). Sanders big hits include Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance” and Faith Hill’s “It Matters To Me”. Tammy Wynette wrote several of her own hit records. This annual event is one of the best in the year for the local music industry. NSAI does a great service to writers of all genres.

We are coming into the height of the awards season. All are important. Even though it may be the most important, the CMA Awards leave us absolutely cold. First off, the major labels have huge blocks of votes since they have the most CMA members. If you like your paycheck, you’d better place your vote for the label’s artist(s) and while you’re at it, hit up your friends for votes, too. We see the same winners’ faces each year as they get honored on a television show that ranks among the worst music shows each and every year. When the Country Music Hall of Fame winners are announced, we usually go into a tirade. Overlooking wonderful Jean Shepard and The Wilburn Brothers has been a disgrace to the CMA for the past decade. We have written volumes about oversights like these and how it affects deserving people while still playing politics to get those in who don’t rightfully deserve to be in the HOF.