Re: Rights to play Copyrighted Music?
It was the video taping that got them the big, fat fine because they acted as a creator of content rather than a sound reinforcement company.
When I do webcasts for Thomson, they want a mix that does NOT contain any un-cleared music. That mean the folks participating on line don't hear "Eye of the Tiger" or the other walk-up songs, and Thomson wants the cleared music they provide used for the webcast pre show, breaks, etc so NOC knows our connection is still active.
Again, simply playing a commercial recording covered by a compulsory license will NOT subject a sound company to criminal liability, nor should it bring about any civil actions. One of the things that came of the DJ forum discussion is that individual (non-venue) users can't even buy a public performance license. Note that "public performance" means for the enjoyment or benefit of a physically-proximate audience, not people watching on line, listening via podcast or recording for later presentation, etc. Those uses require separately negotiated licenses.
Have fun, good luck.
Tim Mc
