[icecast] legalities of streaming

[Mitchell Smith]

Hmmm, so in summary, anyone wanting to put together a station for a couple
of hundred listeners with out a massive bank account, it can not be done
legally.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris G (Moguta)" <chrisg1 at umbc.edu>
To: "icecast" <icecast at xiph.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 11:33 AM
Subject: RE: [icecast] legalities of streaming

<p>> Basically, to legally broadcast music you must:
>
> A) Obtain permissions from the copyright holder (usually the publisher,
record
> label) of the *composition*.  ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC offer compulsory
licenses
> for all of the artists they represent, fees based upon roughly how many
> listeners your station has & how many songs in your broadcast are by
> artists/composers they represent.
>
> B) Obtain permissions from the copyright holder of the particular
*recording*
> of the composition you want to play.  SoundExchange (a division of the
RIAA)
> offers a compulsory license at .07 cents per song per listener, for every
song
> you play.  There *was* a deal for an alternative percent of revenue
royalty,
> but the legislation authorizing this had a sunset clause of December 2002.
>
> C) Switch your Internet connection to one where servers are allowed,
typically
> business connections.
>
> D) Pay royalties for using MP3 technology in your stream, or WMA, AAC,
etc.
> Ogg Vorbis is great here, since there are no royalties to pay.
>
> If any music you wish to play is not represented by ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and
> their overseas performance right organizations (or if you don't want to go
> with the compulsory licensing), then you must negotiate directly with the
> publishers for rights to broadcast their music.  The publishers have every
> right to blow you off & not even *consider* licensing their music to you.
>
> RIAA/SoundExchange compulsory licensing covers even non-members
(supposedly),
> though RIAA-members recieve 19 times the amount of royalties directed to
> non-members.  (SoundExchange admits it on their site.)
>
> Compulsory licensing is financial death for anyone without a significant
sum
> of money.  Direct negotiation as an alternative is just painful, though,
> especially when many will refer you BACK TO THEIR REPRESENTING
ORGANIZATION
> (i.e. ASCAP).
>
> >===== Original Message From Mark Lehrer <mark at knm.org> =====
> >> What are the current legalities in relation to non commercial music
> >> streams, or more accurately put non profit streams, and is this
> >> currently being seriously policed?
> >
> >Yes it is being seriously policed.  This is controlled by copyright
> >law; there are three companies that basically control all music
> >copyrights; ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.  From what I understand, you will
> >need a "compulsory" license from each, and they now have additional
> >royalty payments and reporting requirements for the songs you play.
> >jwz had a good write-up of this (before the big royalty agreement
> >though).  It's a must-read:
> >http://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/webcasting.html
> >
> >The only way I have found around this is to play music that is
> >"legally tradeable", e.g. live phish, dead, metallica, etc who allow
> >you to share electronic copies.  If you use their music this way, then
> >there can be no revenue of any kind; even a banner ad will get you in
> >trouble.
> >
> >It's painful.  Basically it is designed to keep the hobbyists out.
> >Copyrights should be a lot shorter, and should never be allowed to be
> >owned by a corporation... works for hire should have different, and
> >even shorter, terms.
> >
> >Mark
>
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