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FIFTH AND SIX CLASSES
ROLE OF PERFORMING RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS
(revised 9/15/11)
Text Reading Assignment for Fifth and Sixth classes:
MUSIC PUBLISHING- THE ROADMAP TO ROYALTIES
Chapter 5 (Performing Rights),
PLAIN & SIMPLE GUIDE TO MUSIC PUBLISHING
Chapter 5 (Performance Income)
Music Performing Rights in Compositions and Master Recordings
History:
US Copyright grants exclusive right to public performance of copyrighted works to the author. Performing Rights Organizations perform licensing and collection of that right to companies who perform music in the course of their activities. All Countries have such agencies in one form or another who play this role
A. The US Copyright Act grants to copyright holders of musical compositions the exclusive right to perform the work publicly. This resulted in the payment of royalties to songwriters and publishers whose works were recorded and played on the radio and television, etc. Oddly enough, this right was not originally given to copyright holders of sound recordings. The result is that the playing of the sound recording of the composition on Radio and Television only triggers payments to music publishers and songwriters, but not the record companies who created and own the sound recording itself.
However, in 1995 the right to perform music digitally was given to copyright holders of sound recordings. Although Master copyright owners are still are not entitled to performance income from over the air radio and television broadcasts, lobbyists for Independent and Major Labels are pushing hard to amend the copyright act and provide performance income for sound recordings played in these media as well. Most foreign countries already require performance fees to be paid for sound recording performances on terrestrial radio and television.
License fees for performance of Master recordings over digital media such as the internet are currently being collected by digital performance rights organizations. Soundexchange is the primary organization responsible for collecting and distributing the monies collected for digital performances of sound recordings. There is a formula that is used to divide the income between the copyright owner, the featured artist, producer, and musicians. Registration of the songs with Soundexchange is a condition of receiving payment. As digital performance of music increases (i.e. streaming over the internet, Sirus/XM and other satellite based digital performance media) the fees payable will also increase. Just as registration of compositions with performance right societies such as ASCAP and SESAC is important, the registration of the Master Recordings owned by a label or artist is also important if they are performed digitally. Given the ease of tracking digital performances using digital recognition software, performances will be relatively easy to monitor.
B. Basic Types of public performances of music
1. live concert venues (clubs to stadiums)
Read This Article
“The Music-Copyright Enforcers”
By JOHN BOWE
Published: August 6, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/magazine/08music-t.html
2. tv (over the air, cable, satellite)
3. radio (over the air, digital, cable, satellite)
4. internet (websites, webcasting)
5. playing of music by retailers, malls etc.
The following are estimates of the monies earned through ASCAP in 2007 in the various performance categories:
Television $244 million (up from $33 million in 1972)
Radio Stations $238 million (up from $18 million in 1972)
General Licensing $97 million
Concert Venues $6 million
Foreign Earnings $266 million (up from $87 million in 1987)
C. Performing rights organizations for musical compositions
There are three Performing Rights Organizations in the United States:
ASCAP
BMI
SESAC
97% of License Fees collected in the US are collected by a combination of ASCAP and BMI. Therefore, we will primarily focus on the operations of these two PRO societies.
The three societies are described below. In my view, the differences between them are not that significant. The most important action to take is to join one! Then make sure all your compositions are registered with them which have a chance for public performance. All currently collect for digital performances of compositions as well as broadcast performances on radio and television, and live performances through the licensing of venues. Each has a sophisticated website and most interaction can be done on the web in terms of applying for membership and registering songs.
A musical composition will be registered with the music performance rights organization that the publisher and songwriter of that composition is currently, affiliated. A publisher and a songwriter can only be affiliated with one performing rights organization at time. However, if portions of songs are owned by publishers that are members of each society, each society will pay based on the share of the song that is controlled by their affiliated songwriter or publisher. At the end of their contract term, songwriters and publishers can change to another performing right society if they so chose.
Earnings from Public Performances
Over the years, earnings from public performances continue to rise with the increase of media companies with new technologies for dissemination of musical content to the public continue to increase. Satellite radio companies, internet radio stations, new networks offered by cable companies are all examples of this. Music Publishing companies are reporting that income from public performances of their compositions is their highest earnings category.
Here are some estimates by music authors Jeff and Todd Braebec of the amounts of income that can be earned from various public performances:
Type of performance Writer and Publisher Earnings
Number One Billboard pop song of the year $2 million
10 Minutes of underscore per episode on a
Network television series airing for 10 years $1.66 million
Theme song for a network television series on the
Air for five years $.364 million
Song performed on Primetime network TV $3,000
Hit Song used in a commercial with a two year
Broadcast run $.5 million
#1 Pop Chart Single $.72 million
#10 Pop Chart Single $.4 million
#50 Pop Chart Single $90,000
15 Minutes of underscore on each episode of a
Widely syndicated local television series theme song $.24 million
One performance of a prime time network television
Series theme song $1500
A major popular song’s lifetime of copyright earnings $7.5 million
Jingle performance on network television 50 dollars
Worldwide Foreign Performances of a Top 10 chart hit $.75 million
One radio performance 6 cents
Foreign performances of the underscore from a
Number One worldwide blockbuster movie $.5 million
D. Two Types of Membership in Performing Rights Organizations: Songwriter and Publisher
If you are a songwriter who owns your own publishing company, you need to have both types of membership since you are a writer and a publisher. The monies earned by the song are paid separately 50% to the songwriters and 50% to the publishers. That is why you must also register as a songwriter even if you own your own publishing company.
1. Songwriter Membership
Must be an individual and can only join one society at a time. Songwriters will receive 50% of the income earned from their compositions.
2. Publisher Memberships
May be an individual, partnership, llc, or corporation and own a portion of at least one publicly released composition. A song available for purchase over the internet or streamed over the internet will qualify.
3. Duration of Memberships
ASCAP has a continuing year to year agreement that gives the writer or publisher the right to resign during any year. BMI has a two year agreement which has the same termination right. At termination, the compositions formerly represented by either PRO, are deleted so that the writer and publisher can move their compositions to a new PRO.
4. Payment Intervals
ASCAP and BMI pays members roughly six months after each 3 month period.
5. Co-written Compositions with Different Performance Rights Organization Memberships
ASCAP and BMI writers can collaborate on compositions with each other even though they are members of a different PRO . Where they co-write a song, the publishing interest of the ASCAP writer must be represented by an ASCAP affiliated publishing company and the BMI writer’s interest must be represented by a BMI affiliated publishing company.
6. Payment Formulas
Both ASCAP and BMI pay out all monies collected after deduction of their administrative expenses. However, ASCAP and BMI employ slightly different philosophies in calculating their payments to songwriters and publishers.
ASCAP uses a formula to calculate the amount of “performance credits” for each composition. Once the total amount of monies to be distributed is determined, an amount for each credit is assigned and the payments are made accordingly.
BMI has a schedule which lists specific combined writer and publisher dollar amounts for various types of radio, network television, and local television performances. Once these payments have been made, BMI distributes so called “voluntary payments” in certain areas of performance not covered by specific dollar performance amounts. These amounts can add up to between 30 and 40 percent of the total received by BMI writers and publishers.
E. Types of Licenses and Fees Charged by ASCAP and BMI
1. The Blanket License
The most common means of licensing public performances is through a so-called “blanket license” which grants the user permission to perform any works in the ASCAP or BMI catalogue. This is unlimited access and includes all of the past works of the writer and publisher members, as well as the works written by them during the entire term of their affiliation with BMI or ASCAP. It also covers the works of writers who are members of certain foreign performance rights organizations.
The fees charged are computed in various ways depending on the circumstances of the user and usage. They range from flat dollar fees, to per subscriber fees, gross revenue fees, net receipts fees and such other factors as seating capacity or number of full time students for universities. The license agreements have a maximum term of five years.
2. The Per Program License
This is a fee that is charged to the station for performance of a program using ASCAP or BMI works that are otherwise not already licensed which is based on the advertising revenue generated by that program for the statioin
(3) Direct Licensing by the Publisher (Copyright Owner)
BMI and ASCAP members can license their performance rights directly with a film or television producer, who in turn can grant the performance license to the user when they license the program for public performance. This can be done even though they remain members of ASCAP and BMI.
F. Registration Requirements of BMI and ASCAP for Various Types of Musical Performances
1. Basic Registration:
The basic registration requires the publisher and/or writer, to register each newly recorded and released composition with their respective society using the on-line registration interface provided on the websites of BMI and ASCAP. Names of authors and publishers are required, along with the percentages of ownership of each. This registration permits these societies to properly accord credit for most audio-only plays of the compositions such as on internet or analog radio or in concerts. However, the registration requirements become more complex when compositions are embedded in other programs such as films, commercials, tv shows, and the like.
2. Works included in Film and Television Shows
In order for ASCAP and BMI to track the performances of their works inside Television and Film program performances, the writers and/or publishers need to supply the Music Cue Sheet which lists the various compositions appearing in the program, the timing, the nature of the performance, and the original broadcast date of the program.
3. Works written for Commercials
For these type of works, ASCAP requires the song title, the names of the composer, lyricist and music publisher. Also the name of the sponsor or product advertised, the first line spoken or sung; the title of the commercial and the Industry Standard Coding Identification (ISCI) number of the commercial. The term of the agreement between the writer and publisher and the agency and the medium in which the commercial is airing. In addition ASCAP requires a lead sheet and lyrics of the commercial (or cassette or CD, advertising copy if available, a copy of the copy of the contract between the writer and the sponsor. For commercials aired on ABC, NBC, and CBS, the advertising agencies commercial broadcast schedule or talent and residual report. For works written originally for non-advertising purposes and licensed for advertising purposes, ASCAP needs the same identifying information regarding the work and its authors and publishers as above listed, as well as the commercial medium, date of first airing, and performance reports from cable and network television.
Review and History of US Performing Rights Organizations:
BMI From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Type Not-for-profit Founded1939
Website bmi.com
Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed. In 2009, BMI collected over US$905 million in licensing fees and distributed US$788 million in royalties.[1]
BMI affiliates include pop music artists such as Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera, as well as composers such as John Williams and Danny Elfman.
History
BMI was founded by radio executives in 1939 to provide competition in the field of performing rights, to assure royalty payments to writers and publishers of music not represented by the existing performing right organizations, and to provide an alternative source of licensing for all music users. The company was established as competition for ASCAP, which had dominated the music-licensing industries for over two decades.
BMI was the first performing rights organization in the United States to represent songwriters of blues, country, jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel, folk, Latin, and—ultimately—rock and roll. During the 1940s and 1950s, BMI was the primary licensing organization for Country artists and R&B artists, while ASCAP centered on more established Pop artists. Also during this time, BMI expanded its repertoire of classical music, and now represents the majority of the members of the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters and the winners of 30 Pulitzer Prizes for Music
A non-profit-making corporation, BMI issues licenses to users of music, including:
• Television and radio stations and networks
• New media, including the Internet and mobile technologies such as podcasts, ringtones, and ringbacks.
• Satellite audio services, such as XM and Sirius
• Nightclubs, discos, hotels, bars, and restaurants
• Symphony orchestras, concert bands, and classical chamber music ensembles
• Digital jukeboxes
• Live concerts
BMI tracks public performances for 6.5 million works, and collects and distributes licensing revenues for those performances as royalties to over 400,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers it represents, and thousands of creators around the world who have chosen BMI for representation in the U.S. BMI has offices in Atlanta, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Puerto Rico
BMI annually hosts award shows for the purpose of giving awards to songwriters.
ASCAP (from Wikipdeia)
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a not-for-profit performance rights organization that protects its members' musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music, whether via a broadcast or live performance, and compensating them accordingly.
ASCAP collects licensing fees from users of music created by ASCAP members, then distributes them back to its members as royalties. In effect, the arrangement is the product of a compromise: when a song is played, the user does not have to pay the copyright holder directly, nor does the music creator have to bill a radio station for use of a song.
In 2008, ASCAP collected over US$933 million in licensing fees and distributed US$817 million in royalties to its members, with an 11.3% operating expense ratio. In the United States, ASCAP competes with two other performing rights organizations: Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) and the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC).
ASCAP was founded by composer Victor Herbert in New York City on February 13, 1914, to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members, who were mostly writers and publishers associated with New York’s Tin Pan Alley. ASCAP’s earliest members included the era’s most active songwriters – Irving Berlin, Otto Harbach, James Weldon Johnson, Jerome Kern and John Philip Sousa. Subsequently, many other prominent songwriters became members. As of July 2009, ASCAP membership includes over 360,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers.
In 1919, ASCAP and the Performing Rights Society of Great Britain, PRS, signed the first reciprocal agreement for the representation of each other’s members’ works in their respective territories. Today,
ASCAP has global reciprocal agreements and licenses the US performances of hundreds of thousands of international music creators.
ASCAP and Manhattan School of Music summer campers participate in daily symphonic band rehearsals. Since 1999, the two institutions have partnered with to offer a free music camp for students who attend New York City's public schools.
The advent of radio in the 1920s brought an important new source of income for ASCAP. Radio stations originally only broadcast performers live, the performers working for free. Later, performers wanted to be paid, and recorded performances became more prevalent. ASCAP started collecting license fees from the broadcasters. Between 1931 and 1939, they could increase rates by over 400%.
Jazz, blues, country, and swing soundtracked the 1930s, and ASCAP members Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Gene Autry and Jimmie Rodgers entertained the nation even as the Great Depression took hold. In 1940, when ASCAP tried to double its license fees again, radio broadcasters started to boycott ASCAP and formed their own royalty agency, named Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). During a ten-month period lasting from January 1 to October 29, 1941, no music licensed by ASCAP (1,250,000 songs) was broadcasted on NBC and CBS radio stations. Instead, they played more regional music and styles (like rhythm & blues or country) that had been traditionally neglected by ASCAP. Eventually, the differences between ASCAP and the broadcasters were settled, and ASCAP agreed to fees much lower than in the preceding years.
ASCAP’s membership diversified further in the 1940s, bringing along jazz and swing greats like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Fletcher Henderson. The movies also soared in popularity during the 30s and 40s, and with them came classic scores and songs by new ASCAP members like Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, and Morton Gould. Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky and Leonard Bernstein brought their revered classical compositions into the ASCAP repertory in the 1940s.
In the 1950s and 1960s, television was introduced as a new revenue stream for ASCAP, one that maintains its importance today. With the birth of FM radio, new ASCAP members like John Denver, Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones, Janis Joplin and Carly Simon scored massive hits. Many Motown hits were written by ASCAP members Ashford & Simpson, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder. Both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones licensed their works through ASCAP, and the very first country Grammy went to ASCAP writer Bobby Russell for “Little Green Apples.” During this period, ASCAP also initiated a series of lawsuits to recover the position they lost during the boycott of 1941, without success.
During the last three decades of the 20th century, ASCAP’s membership grew to reflect every new development in music, including funk, punk, metal, hip-hop, techno and grunge. Renowned creators ranging from Lauryn Hill and Dr. Dre to the Ramones, Slayer and John Zorn joined. ASCAP launched a Latin membership department to serve ASCAP Latin writers – Marc Anthony, Joan Sebastian and Olga Tañon among them – with the Spanish-speaking world as their audience. In 1981, ASCAP prevailed against CBS in an eleven-year-old court case challenging the ASCAP blanket license.[
Today, ASCAP remains one of the world's most far-reaching performing rights agencies. ASCAP licenses over 11,500 local commercial radio stations and 2000 non-commercial radio broadcasters, maintains reciprocal relationships with nearly 100 foreign PROs across six continents, and licenses billions of public performances worldwide each year. ASCAP was the first US performing rights organization to distribute royalties for performances on the Internet, and continues to pursue and secure licenses for websites, digital music providers and other new media.
Annual Awards
ASCAP honors its top members in a series of annual awards shows in seven different music categories: Pop, Rhythm and Soul, Film and Television, Latin, Country, Christian and Concert Music. In addition, ASCAP inducts jazz greats to its Jazz Wall of Fame in an annual ceremony held at the society’s New York offices, and honors PRS members that license their works through ASCAP at an annual awards gala in London.
Through its annual ASCAPlus Awards program, ASCAP compensates those writers whose works are substantially performed in venues and media outside of its surveys. An independent panel reviews the applications and makes cash awards to deserving members as well as writers whose works have a unique prestige value. Award amounts begin at $100. ASCAP is the only performing rights organization with a cash awards program of this kind.
"I Create Music" EXPO
In April 2006, ASCAP inaugurated its annual ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO, the first national conference fully dedicated to songwriting and composing. The first EXPO featured workshops, panels, mentor sessions and performances with notable figures from all music genres and sectors of the music industry. The most recent EXPO took place between April 23 and 25, 2009. Highlights included interviews and panels with Jeff Lynne, Wyclef Jean, Natasha Bedingfield and Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, among other notable songwriters and industry insiders.
Member benefits
ASCAP was the first American PRO to offer a package of exclusive benefits to its members. Currently these benefits include:[17]
• Discount on membership to the Songwriters Hall of Fame
• Membership in US Alliance Federal Credit Union
• Discounts on health, dental, instrument and life insurance via the MusicPro program
• Discount on ASCAP Web Tools, a set of internet-based marketing and sales tools developed by Nimbit Inc.for ASCAP members
• Discounts on music-related retail products and services
• Hotel and rental car discounts
Playback magazine
ASCAP distributes to its members Playback, a magazine highlighting the progress and career accomplishments of ASCAP’s writer and publisher members. Playback content is also available to the general public on ASCAP’s website.
Criticism
ASCAP attracted media attention in 1996 when it threatened Girl Scouts of the USA and Boy Scouts of America camps that sang ASCAP's copyrighted works at camps with lawsuits for not paying licensing fee These threats were later retracted, however they have drawn negative attention for cracking down on licensing fees on other occasions as well, such as when they demand that open mic events need to pay licensing (even if most or all of the songs are original).
ASCAP has also been criticized for its extremely non-transparent operations, including the refusal to release attendance records for board members, the notes from board meetings, and the reasoning behind their weighting formulas which determine how much money a song or composition earns for use on TV or radio.
ASCAP GOES TO COURT FOR PERFORMANCE FEES FOR RINGTONES ON PRIVATE CELL PHONES AND LOSES
In 2009, an ASCAP rate court case regarding ringtones generated considerable public attention. Critics claimed that ASCAP may seek to hold consumers responsible for a ringtone public performance. In statements to the press, ASCAP noted the following:
• It is seeking to ensure that wireless carriers pay ASCAP members a share of the substantial revenue that mobile operators derive from content (like ringtones) that uses ASCAP members’ music. This content includes the delivery of full track songs, music videos, television content, ringtones and ringback tones.
• It has been licensing wireless carriers and ringtone content providers since 2001, and that it is not in any way seeking to charge consumers.
• It is striving to license those that make a business of transmitting its members’ music. This holds true for any medium where businesses have been built by using this music as content or a service – whether terrestrial broadcast, satellite, cable, Internet or wireless carriers providing audio and video content.
On October 14, 2009, a federal court ruled that "when a ringtone plays on a cellular telephone, even when that occurs in public, the user is exempt from copyright liability, and [the cellular carrier] is not liable either secondarily or directly." The ruling made clear that playing music in public, when done without any commercial purpose, does not infringe copyright. (US v. ASCAP, US District Court, Southern District of New York).
Further controversies arose involving ASCAP in 2009 and 2010. The organization requested that some websites pay licensing fees on embedded YouTube videos, even though YouTube already pays licensing fees, and demanded payment from Amazon and iTunes for 30-second streaming previews of music tracks, which traditionally does not require a license, being considered a promotional vehicle for song sales. It also sued a Manhattan pub over the unlicensed use of music, naming Bruce Springsteen as a plaintiff without the artist being informed or consenting. In June 2010, ASCAP sent out letters to its members soliciting donations to fight copyleft-supporting entities such as Public Knowledge, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Creative Commons creating notable controversy as many argued that these licenses are a form of copyright and offer the artist nothing but an extra choice.
SESAC (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Private, Founded 1930
Nashville, Tennessee
http://www.sesac.com/
\
SESAC, originally the Society of European Stage Authors & Composers, is the smallest of the three performance rights organizations in the United States. SESAC was founded in 1930, making it the second-oldest performing rights organization in the U.S. SESAC is also the fastest-growing PRO in the United States. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, SESAC deals with all aspects of the business, from creation to licensing and administration. The company also has offices in New York City, Los Angeles, London, Atlanta, and Miami. SESAC touts its small size: If the phrase 'quality vs. quantity' ever mattered, SESAC is the place.
While SESAC is the smallest of the three U.S. performing rights organizations, size is its largest advantage. SESAC prides itself on developing individual relationships with both songwriters and publishers.
Whereas ASCAP and BMI operate on a not-for-profit basis, SESAC retains some income as profit. While ASCAP and BMI distribute all income from performance royalties to their composer and publisher affiliates (less an administrative fee), SESAC retains an undisclosed amount of performance royalty income SESAC is also unique among the US performing rights organizations in that it does not offer open membership – one must be approved to join.
SESAC originally strove to support underrepresented European stage authors and composers, hence the original name. As this objective diminished, the company has represented a wider range of writers and genres. SESAC's affiliates roster includes Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Robert Johnson, Bryan-Michael Cox, Nate "Danja" Hills, Rush, Coheed & Cambria, Young Love, The Faint, Rapture, and more.
Licensing of Television, Radio, and Satellite Companies by PRO’s
Broadcast Radio – Analog
Internet Radio (Webcasters) – Digital
Satellite Radio – Digital
Cable Radio - Digital
Broadcast Television – Digital
Internet Television – Digital
Satellite Television – Digital
Cable Television - Digital
Public Broadcasting System-Television and Radio
Live and Recorded Performances at Public Venues-
Clubs, Stadiums, Aircraft, Ships, Shopping Malls and Stores
Methods of Collection of Income
Percentage of gross revenues, percentage of advertising revenues, flat fees, per subscriber.
WHERE AND WHEN PERFORMANCE LICENSE IS NOT REQUIRED:
“ FAIR USE”EXCEPTIONS
(Page 86, “Music Business Handbook and Career Guide” Baskerville 9th Edition)
Federal Courts have carved out the following exceptions regardingwhat will be considered a public performance for the purpose of requiring a performing rights license from the owner.
1. Performance or display of a work by instructors or pupils in the course of face to face teaching activities of a non-profit educational institution
2. Performance of Non-dramatic literary or musical work, display of a work, by or in the course of a transmission, if
a. the performance or display is a regular part of the systematic instructional activities of a governmental body or nonprofit educational institution
b. the performance or display is directly related and of material assistance to the teaching content of the transmission
c. the transmission is made primarily for reception in classrooms or similar places devoted to instruction
3. Performance of non-dramatic literary or musical work or of a dramtico-musical work of a religious nature in the course of religious services
4. Performance of a non-dramatic literary or musical work (otherwise than in a transmission to the public) without any direct or indirect purpose of commercial advantage and without payment of any fee or other compensation for the performance to any of its performers, promoters, or organizations if,
a. there is no direct or indirect transmission charge; or
b. the proceeds, after deduction of reasonable costs of production, are used exclusively for educational, religious or charitable purposes and not for private financial gain
5. Communication by an establishment of a transmission or re-transmission embodying a performance or display of a non-dramatic musical work intended to be received by the general public, originated by a radio or television broadcast station, or, if audiovisual transmission, by a cable system or satellite carrier, if that establishment contains less than 3,750 gross square feet, if (1) there audio use is via six or fewer speakers with not more than four in any one room, or (2) their audio/visual use is via not more than four TVs, of which no more than one TV is in any room unless a direct charge is made to see or hear the transmission, or the transmission thus received is further transmitted to the public. Those non-food service and beverage establishments that contain more than 2,000 gross square feet must meet the requirements of (1) and (2) above in order to be exempt.
6. Performance of non-dramatic musical works by a vending establishment where the sole purpose of the performance is to promote the retail sale of copies or phonorecords of the work or of the devices used in performing the work
7. The ringing of a mobile phone in public with a ringtone comprised of a musical work.
Netflix now licensed by ASCAP
http://musicindustrynewswire.com/2011/08/11/min4283_185127.php
AFFILATION PROCEDURES FOR SONGWRITERS AND PUBLISHERS
BMI - Online at Website
ASCAP – Online at Website
SESAC (invitation only)
Assignments for 5th and 6th Classes
Go to Harry Fox Agency website. Review description of the Harry Fox Agency. Copy and email to instructor their description of how they automate the process of issuing mechanical licenses for compositions released by independent labels for small quantities.
Go on line to the Performing Rights Organization ASCAP OR BMI.
Read the general information and familiarize yourself with the home page.
Complete and save on PDF form (using PDFescape.com if necessary) the songwriter and publisher applications for either BMI or ASCAP. Fill it out using either real or fictional information. Put in your Publishing Folder on your computer.
Note, if you are already are a BMI or ASCAP writer or publishing member, bring your official documentation showing your affiliation instead.
