In a sign of the digital times, Billboard is adding to its iconic charts new lists representing digital downloads by genre. The lists will be featured in the magazine, and included in the complete charts updated each Thursday on the web site. In Syn© is a regular update on innovation in the copyright community.

The core principle of copyright is that the creator and copyright owner has the right to reproduction, distribution, public performance and the creation of derivative works of his or her creativity. Take that away and copyright is meaningless. Some would like that result. Others want to keep placing limits on those rights by expanding fair [...]

Billboard reports that AT&T is combining their mobile music services into a single application called AT&T Music. This new app merges several already available services, like song tagging, music streaming and lyrics searches, as well as a new AT&T Radio and music download service, offering consumers a more integrated music experience. In Syn© is a [...]

We praised the FCC recently when it released its long-awaited National Broadband Plan. We share the FCC’s vision of a wired and wireless world of high-speed Internet connectivity. Creative industries are embracing the online market in new and innovative ways — see our In Syn(c) series for more — and the more robust and widespread [...]

We filed comments with the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator yesterday, as did hundreds of individual artists and creators, but there were many other submissions the USIPEC, Victoria Espinel, and her team should find of value. A common theme among just about every one I’ll be summarizing here — the importance of education on the [...]

The Copyright Alliance submitted comments today (Wednesday, March 24, 2010) to the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (USIPEC), Victoria Espinel, 1) strongly supporting the Obama Administration’s effort to increase enforcement of copyright owners’ rights, 2) emphasizing the importance of education in helping individuals understand the importance of copyright to the economy and the culture and [...]

In another example of how TV is taking to the web to become a more interactive experience for consumers, the NY Times is reporting that in the second season of Showtime’s Nurse Jackie, twitter-obsessed character Dr. Cooper’s  on-screen tweets will be posted to the character’s account in real time. In Syn© is a regular update on [...]

In a timely publication as the U.K. weighs legislation designed to provide more robust protections for copyright owners and creators, an independent Paris-based economics firm called TERA Consultants has concluded that without changes made to target the threat of online piracy, by 2015 the EU nations could see the loss of 1.2 million jobs and [...]

Attention college basketball fans, this just in from NBC Sports. You’ve got 24 hours, good luck! In Syn© is a regular update on innovation in the copyright community.

CNET is reporting on a new music app Universal Music Group is introducing for the iPhone and iPod. The game, called Six-String, lets players pluck and strum like a real guitar to tracks from studio masters of songs by bands including Bon Jovi. Get more details from UMG . Rock on. In Syn© is a regular [...]