skippy the bush kangaroo

Sunday, July 05, 2009

as(s)cap wants royalties on cellphone rings

boy...these folks are just making friends all over the place...not...
when a music ring tone goes off in a restaurant or during a company meeting, it's often heard by more than just the intended recipient.

but can that seconds-long clip of a song be considered a public performance of a musical work?

that's the question raised by the american society of composers, authors and publishers, a music industry licensing group that is asking a federal judge in new york to require the two largest u.s. wireless carriers, att and verizon, to pay for public performance licenses for cell phone ring tones. sfgate

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posted by Cookie Jill at 1:05 PM |

3 Comments:

...actually, grumpy ol' forester that I am, I actually earned a great deal of my way through college as an "on-air radio personality" - otherwise known as a disc jockey - in a couple of small-market AM radio stations (FM was pretty much in it's infancy in the outback back in the early 1970's). So I suppose it's only fair to point out the error of your post title...

It's ASCAP that is making the move to charge royalties for ring tones, not RIAA, and the distinction is important. ASCAP is, as is its competitor BMI, a performance rights organization representing songwriters, composers, and publishers of music. RIAA, which isn't involved in this particular story, represents record labels and distributors of recorded music...

ASCAP may be taking a stab at carrying on in the same way that RIAA has over the last couple of years, but ASCAP is a different group and one that doesn't necessarily have all that friendly a relationship with RIAA...
commented by Anonymous Jack K., the Grumpy Forester, 7:24 PM PDT  
In America, everything is for sale and has a price. It's who we are.
commented by Blogger The CultureGhost, 3:37 PM PDT  
ASCAP and BMI and RIAA are ripe for investigation by the IRS, the federal government for interstate fraud, the post office for using the mails for fraud.

Their members should demand a complete audit by an independent audit firm and an investigation of executive compensation.

RICO would be a very easy charge to prove for any federal prosecutor with any sense. These are interstate gangs. They serve no viable purpose and they steal from the musicians, producers and promoters.

If the dogs of congress can finish cleaning the stables of the insurance companies, the wall street brokers, the bankers and the lobbyists, I would like to see the heads of all of these organizations doing some serious prison time.
commented by Anonymous Anonymous, 8:28 PM PDT  

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