Re: Rights to play Copyrighted Music?
No. Personal use is permitted under copyright law, but that means YOU, playing the work for yourself or a few friends in your home, car, boat, etc.
"Private" would indicate that the event is not open to the general public, but that makes no difference under the public performance rules. If the audience isn't exclusively made up of friends (the kind you've had as guests in your home) or family, it's still a "public" performance.
Copyright is universal. The exceptions to payment of license fees are few and narrowly defined.
