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 Many
mobile and club jocks frequently inquire about the issue
of recorded-music performance rights. Sure, we all know
it’s illegal to mass-duplicate CDs without copyright permission,
but what about playing recorded music in a venue that doesn’t
pay an annual fee to ASCAP?
To find out the answers to some of these commonly asked
questions, DJ Times went straight to the source: the leadership
of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers,
commonly known as ASCAP. Jim Steinblatt is their New York-based
director of media relations, and Laurie Hughes is the director
of business affairs in their Nashville office. The interview
was conducted in three-way fashion, so here it goes:
DJ
Times: First of all, please describe for us ASCAP’s
duties regarding music licensing rights issues.
Steinblatt: We represent 85,000 U.S. songwriters
and music publishers, and hundreds of thousands more from
around the world. They rent to us the right to license public
performances of their works. These are performances that
take place in either a public place or anywhere a group
other than a normal circle of family and social acquaintances
is gathered – in other words, a bar, a hotel, a nightclub
or a convention. These are all public places where public
performances take place. We also license a lot of big corporations
and even little corporations that have employee parties
or who bring in all of their distributors or franchisees
and have a big blowout one night. On the other hand, a wedding,
a birthday party, that kind of thing, would generally be
a private performance and not something that ASCAP would
license.
DJ Times: Is that the reason why banquet halls are
not usually required to be licensed facilities, while bars
and nightclubs would?
Steinblatt:
It actually depends. We do have a substantial number of
banquet halls licensed, but I gather that they’re mainly
the ones that have events in addition to private parties.
A lot of them do corporate functions, and in those cases
we’d treat them like a bar or a restaurant.
DJ
Times: I suppose it would be an enforcement nightmare
to try to regulate every hall out there.
Steinblatt:
Well, that’s our job, and we have a really great staff
all over the country which has the responsibility of keeping
track of what’s going on, and to explain to these facilities
why they have to get a license. The reason is because the
performances of copyrighted music is a property right, and
it’s simply the right thing to do to ask someone’s permission
when you use their property.
DJ
Times: As mobile DJs, we perform for a number of both
public and private functions. How would these performance
rights issues face us, performing in a hall that would be
regulated by ASCAP?
Steinblatt:
For the most part, we treat DJs just like we’d treat
bands or other performers. Under the law, while technically
everyone involved in a public performance is responsible
for obtaining permission or authorization, the courts and
ASCAP and copyrighters tend to look to the establishment
– or, in some cases, the concert promoter – to obtain the
license. And that’s for a very good reason: Unlike mobile
DJs, the establishment tends to remain in the same place,
so we can find them and license them and continue to keep
up with them.
DJ Times: In what specific cases would a mobile DJ
be required to purchase a license from ASCAP?
Steinblatt:
If a mobile DJ rented a warehouse and gave a dance, they
would need a license – if they are charging at the door.
At that point, they’d be acting like a concert promoter,
and we would have to license them whether the music performed
is recorded or live. Although it’s not the typical thing
– DJs usually are either hired by someone else or they perform
in a licensed bar or restaurant – we do have DJs licensed
for those kinds of events.
DJ Times: Let’s talk a little bit about MP3 files
that some of us DJs are able to download off the Internet.
Do you foresee any future licensing requirements for DJs
who download these songs off the Internet and use them at
gigs?
Steinblatt:
We’re getting into a couple of different rights issues here.
First of all, there is the licensed performance that takes
place when the artist originally performs these downloadable
songs, and for this, ASCAP licenses the MP3 web site. Those
transmissions, those performances, are therefore covered.
When a DJ would download and make a copy, however, that’s
a recording right and not a licensing right licensed by
ASCAP. So once you make the recording, I don’t think that’s
any different from if you made a recording off the radio.
I know that’s the hot issue in the recording world today,
but whether you make a copy or not, it’s not ASCAP’s issue.
The issue for us is the performance on any web site from
which you’re obtaining the MP3 file. The primary thing to
keep in mind is the distinction between the recording rights
and the performance rights – they’re separate and distinct.
DJ
Times: Do you see any big issues on the horizon that
could potentially face mobile and club DJs in terms of consequences
for using unlicensed music in a public performance situation?
Steinblatt:
Recently, the law in regards to playing the radio in small
establishments has changed, but that’s not what DJs do.
Everything seems to be pretty stable at the moment. And
we’re not planning to change our practice of licensing the
establishment, rather than the DJ performer, for private
events.
DJ Times: There are a lot of misconceptions out there
when it comes to recording and performance laws. Where should
club and mobile jocks turn if they have questions related
to performance rights issues?
Steinblatt:
We have a web site, and I think there’s information everyone
can use at ASCAP.com. I know that people can also send in
questions and we’ll refer them to our local representatives,
and those representatives in turn can call and answer any
other questions they might have. And please keep in mind
that we represent songwriters and not recording artists.
When a recording is sold on the retail level, songwriters
only receive a few cents a recording. They don’t make their
money from retail sales [unlike artists, who receive a fairly
substantial percentage of the customer’s cost of a recording].
The public performance rights are therefore very important
to songwriters – it’s how they make their living.
If
you have any questions for TCB, please write to
DJ
Times c/o TCB,
25 Willowdale Ave.
Port Washington, N.Y., 11050
fax 516-944-8372
e-mail djtimes@-testa.com.
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