Liberation Music


Liberation Music is an Australian record company and label, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello, based in Melbourne. Its stated aim is to find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining independent in the process.
Liberation has a sub-label called Liberator Music, which is a distributor for foreign artists and labels such as Childish Gambino, Glassnote Records, BMG Rights Management, and Ipecac Recordings.

History

Following the 1998 sale of Gudinski's Mushroom Records to Festival Records, Liberation Music was formed to continue to satisfy Michael Gudinski's desire to promote and develop Australian Music. Effective September 2008, Liberation is distributed by Universal Music Australia after leaving Warner Music Australia.
In September 2017, Liberation Music re-branded as Liberation Records. The Mushroom Groups's newest imprint, Bloodlines, is now home to several artists previously signed to Liberation Music.
On 22 August 2013, the Electronic Frontiers Foundation filed suit against Liberation Music in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts for "misusing copyright law". The complaint related to repeated DMCA takedown requests, targeted at a lecture by Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig which was posted on YouTube. Lessig and the EFF brought the suit under the Fair Use clauses of US copyright law. EFF Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry said, "There's a long and sorry history of content owners abusing copyright to take down fair uses, but this one is particularly shocking. Based on nothing more than a few clips illustrating Internet creativity, Liberation Music took down an entire lecture by one of the leading experts in the world on copyright and fair use." The lawsuit was settled out of court, including an admission that Lessig has fair use.

Artists

Liberation current label artists:
Past label artists: