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The Difference Between 'Covenant' and 'Condition Precedent' In Song Licensing Agreements
In 2008, songwriter Maria Schneider signed an administration agreement (AA) that gave the administrator ArtistShare Music Publishing (AMP) the exclusive right to administer her musical compositions, including "to execute" in Schneider's "name any licenses and agreements affecting the Compositions." The AA further stated AMP "must notify you [i.e., Schneider] and obtain your prior written approval for any license we grant on your behalf." After AMP assigned "all its duties" under the AA to its affiliated company Modern Works Music Publishing (MWP), MWP in 2014 entered into a blanket publishing licensing agreement (PLA) that gave YouTube the right to use Schneider's compositions.
Schneider later sued YouTube in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for copyright infringement claiming, according to the court, "that she was not aware of YouTube royalties or even the PLA before this lawsuit, and that she never approved licensing her works to YouTube." Schneider v. YouTune LLC, 20-cv-04423.
When YouTube moved for summary judgment, Judge James Donato denied the motion, partially because "the question of whether MWP owned or controlled Schneider's compositions is replete with factual disputes …."
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