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nakii
Aloha
29 Posts |
 Posted - 04/24/2011 : 12:57:59 PM
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unfortunately for small venues/ small budget music groups, with the blessings of the us govt. ascap and bmi are the route by which song writers collect some money to pay composers for use of their songs. ALL venues that use any form of recorded or live music , original or not, in their place of business , are required BY LAW to be licensed by ascap or bmi (or one of the less known and accessible companies).
there is no way around this...if music is played on cd,dvd, cable, callwaiting or performed live ETC...doesn't matter if song is famous, original , performed for free, tips, cash, food, etc..doesn't matter what the venue is, if music is used in the conduct of the event..the VENUE is responsible for obtaining appropriate license for their event.your 6 year old neighbor can play his originals on the kazoo for free....cuts no ice , venue is stuck.
performer has NO legal obligation in any way for this..in fact if you are a songwriter you can register your songs for free with bmi and before you do your gig send then a list of what you are playing when and where to bmi and you will receive some copyright payment...provided of course the venue is licensed and making their payment to bmi.this is grossly unfair to small operators especially because failure to be licensed can result in huge fines. so venue has to decide if 20 bucks or so a night is a reasonable extra fee to pay on top of FAIR compensation to the musicians.and for the most part royalties go to the big time song writers who have the most commonly played songs. hawaiian music is rough because so few composers are "important" in terms of total play time in all venues including radio , tv, concert etc.
if you google around you will find opinions saying "ignore them". easy for the musician to say but (as one of our 12 year venues has discovered) being faced with a 4000 dollar bill to be allowed to continue having live music is disastrous for a small venue. AND rough on the 20 plus music groups who make a meager 100 dollars for their 3 hour effort.picture a street market or festival with no music. and of course our fellow musicians realize how important those 50 and 100 dollar gigs are to our lives...gas food equipt....days we could be doing something else if we didn't love what we are doing so much.
it is surprising how few people (especially venues and musicians)have any real knowledge of this whole situation.
so really advice for your venues, who eventually will get letters from ascap and bmi, is to call 1 of those agencies. don't say we've bee doing this for a few years.... just file for a license BASED ON FUTURE PLANS..info is online.BMI AND ASCAP DO NOT ACCEPT PLEAS OF IGNORANCE.
there are people who get a commission or something for watching local papers for any mention of music performances, visit local establishments to document whats going on (especially ones known for having open mics, "volunteers", amatueurs etc and report to ascap or bmi. then the endless stream of letters and phonecalls to venue begin....seldom with happy endings....
so we encourage all performers but especially the venues to be aware , GET MORE INFO FROM BUSINESS LAWYER, and do what they judge best.
one final note consider that as performers who like to get paid, and who respect other performers and their love for what they are doing , we APPRECIATE the venues who pay their dues so that we can sing songs written by our friends and relatives in hawaii plus our own originals, it does't seem fair that some venues feel they are above the law.we also appreciate the venues who support hawaiian music by compensating the performers smilingly and as generously as possible.
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Russell Letson
`Olu`olu
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2011 : 06:05:15 AM
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Just a niggle: The only role of "the us govt." is that copyright law allows copyright holders to hire third parties to oversee licensing of their work. The PROs (performing rights organizations) and mechanical-rights licensers (in the US, usually the Harry Fox Agency) have no connection to the government, and the "fines" are civil damages (set by statute) awarded by civil courts.
Not that the PROs don't generate plenty of problems--they operate largely via reps working on commission (thus the relentless search for new licencees), are often inflexible in setting fees, and do not necessarily adequately represent the interests of small-time composers. But Nakii is right--you don't want to mess with these guys, since they have enormous legal resources and are tireless in their pursuit of revenue streams.
BTW, one should add SESAC to the list of organizations that must be dealt with--they're aggressive and include Bob Dylan and Neil Diamond among their clients.
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Edited by - Russell Letson on 04/25/2011 06:06:13 AM |
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nakii
Aloha
29 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2011 : 09:27:13 AM
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| THANX FOR ADDITION AND COMMENTS. MIKE AT NAKII |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2011 : 1:25:58 PM
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| It all started out as a tool to protect songwriters and music composers and their property. Waylon Jennings sang about music being made by "lawyers and machines". "We have met the enemy and he is us!" -Walt Kelly, "Pogo". |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 04/25/2011 : 1:31:13 PM
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| As for protection needed for songwriter, Stephen Foster died in poverty because, after he sold a song, that was it. His last song is the poignant "Hard Times Come Again No More". BMI came about because the Tin Pan Alley guys thought country music was substandard and therefore not worth of protection. |
keaka |
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ascap/bmi copyright licensing
