By Gary Symons TLL Editor in Chief A brilliant campaign for press freedom, forged by Reporters Without Borders - Germany and the popular video game Minecraft, has won the top prize at the 2021 ANA REGGIE Awards competition. The Super REGGIE went to Reporters Without Borders for a clever collaboration that saw the organization work with Minecraft to bypass press censorship in … [Read more...] about Reporters Without Borders And Minecraft Win Super REGGIE Award
Social Media
Universal Music Announces Licensing Truce With Triller
The months-long licensing dispute between Universal Music Group and the social video site Triller appears to be over, as UMG announced it has signed a worldwide agreement for its music catalog. Triller is a social media video app, similar to TikTok, in which users can combine video and licensed music to produce their own videos. Triller is different in the sense videos are … [Read more...] about Universal Music Announces Licensing Truce With Triller
Allrecipes Cooks Up Deal With Snapchat
Allrecipes, the world’s largest recipe brand, took an innovative step to increase its already massive user base by launching a new feature as the exclusive food category partner of the Scan feature within Snapchat. The new offering allows home cooks to access Allrecipes recipes based on ingredients captured by the Snapchat camera function. Available later this year, this new … [Read more...] about Allrecipes Cooks Up Deal With Snapchat
India’s Tips Industries Licenses Music For YouTube
As the short video wars heat up between TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels, music labels are enjoying new value for licensing their IP. Now, India's Tips Industries has signed a lucrative deal with Google, allowing users of its YouTube Shorts service to use any music owned by the label. "As part of this deal, Tips will license its large catalogue to YouTube platform … [Read more...] about India’s Tips Industries Licenses Music For YouTube
Who’s News: Simba Dickie Group Names New CEO
The family-owned Simba Dickie Group (SBG) has a new CEO this week, as Michael Sieber (pictured above, at left) officially handed over the reins to the toy company to his son Florian Sieber on May 1. Florian will become the third generation of the Sieber family to run SBG, since Michael and his father Fritz Sieber founded Simba Toys in 1982. Florian Sieber was named as the … [Read more...] about Who’s News: Simba Dickie Group Names New CEO
What Consumers Will be Looking for in a Post-COVID World
By Alicia Rosa Brand Central Insights Consumers are starting to see the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel. This new vaccinated world will be a testing ground to see if the pandemic-driven trends and habits will stay. At Brand Central Insights we’ve been able to look at the trends from the last year at a bird’s-eye view to see what’s going to stick around for the long … [Read more...] about What Consumers Will be Looking for in a Post-COVID World
SPLiCE Hosting ‘License To Play Globally’ Conference on April 26
By Gary Symons TLL Editor in Chief The Society of Product Licensors Committed to Excellence (SPLiCE) is celebrating its 17th anniversary on Monday—which is also World IP Day—by hosting a conference on ways to protect, promote and enhance brand integrity through licensing. SPLiCE currently consists of 70-plus member companies which together account for more than 20% of the … [Read more...] about SPLiCE Hosting ‘License To Play Globally’ Conference on April 26
Brands Cut Ties With Vlog Squad’s David Dobrik Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations
By Gary Symons TLL Editor in Chief At least 10 companies have dropped all ties with popular YouTube star David Dobrik and his troupe of video pranksters the 'Vlog Squad' after a Business Insider report chronicled allegations of sexual misconduct. Dobrik is a comedian who pranks the unwary in Los Angeles with his Vlog Squad, and garnered millions of Youtube views. He put the … [Read more...] about Brands Cut Ties With Vlog Squad’s David Dobrik Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Special Report: The Evolution of Music Licensing
By Gary Symons, TLL Editor in Chief The Bob Dylan music deal with Universal Music has shown that for musicians and music companies, the times truly are a’changin’. But, in truth, that change was coming long before Universal stroked a check for a reported $300 million to $400 million, in return for Dylan’s entire music catalog of roughly 600 songs. Also in December Fleetwood … [Read more...] about Special Report: The Evolution of Music Licensing
Neil Young to Cash In on Music Catalogs
Canadian rock star and songwriter Neil Young is out of the blue, and heavily into the black, after selling a 50 per cent interest in his music catalog for an estimated $150 million US. As noted in this week's Special Report from The Licensing Letter, the past four years and 2020 in particular have seen a massive increase in the value and scale of music catalog deals. Sales … [Read more...] about Neil Young to Cash In on Music Catalogs