US Copyright Laws

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=48 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>US Copyright Laws</I></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=160 BGCOLOR="#990033" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="20"><B>   </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="20"><B>     </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="20"><B>  </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="20"></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=432 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Complying with copyright laws</div> <div> Musical compositions and sound recordings are creative works that are protected by the copyright laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) and other countries.</div> <bR> <div> Under U.S. law, the owner of a copyright has the exclusive right to (and to authorize others to) reproduce the work, use parts of the work in a new creation, distribute the work in whole or in part, and to publicly display or perform the work (including on web pages and through webcasting).</div> <bR> <div> With few exceptions, it is illegal to reproduce, distribute or broadcast a sound recording without the permission of the copyright owner. It is your responsibility to comply with the copyright laws when you become a webcaster.</div> <bR> <div> There have been recent amendments to the copyright law regarding webcasting of sound recordings. These new provisions allow webcasting under the terms of a statutory license, as a way to help webcasters get permission without having to go to each sound recording's owner.</div> <bR> <div> The statutory license, however, has strict requirements that you must follow.</div> <bR> <div> Some of these requirements include the payment of license fees, limitations on the number of songs from the same album or artist that may be played in a three hour period (called the sound recording performance complement); a prohibition on publishing advance playlists; and a requirement to identify the song, artist and album on the website.</div> <bR> <div> There are other requirements as well. The Recording Industry Association of America provides quite a bit of information on copyright law as it applies to webcasting, and both ASCAP and BMI have created license agreements that they are willing to grant to webcasters that they believe conform to the provisions of the new copyright rules for webcasting.</div> <bR> <div> If you endeavor to be a profit-making webcaster, depending on your status you might qualify to pay royalties based on a percentage of your revenue. For instance: qualifying small webcasters pay 10% of the first $250,000 and 12% on revenues exceeding $250,000 in royalties. Larger commercial broadcasts fall under other guidelines.</div> <bR> <div> For additional information on the statutory license and other aspects of webcasting, please visit the following sites: </div> <div> <A HREF="http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The U.S. Copyright Office</A> </div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.riaa.com/"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The Recording Industry Association of America - particularly</A> or <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com/weblic/weblic.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.riaa.com/weblic/weblic.htm">www.riaa.com/weblic/weblic.htm</A> </div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.ascap.com/weblicense/webintro.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ascap.com/weblicense/webintro"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">ASCAP - particularly</A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.bmi.com/iama/webcaster/index.asp" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.bmi.com/iama/webcaster/index."><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">BMI - particularly</A> </div> <div> If you are uncertain about what you can and cannot do, we suggest you check with the copyright owner or the owner's representatives (such as through the organizations above), or consult a lawyer.</div> <bR> <div> ASCAP Posts Podcasting Licensing Agreements for Music</div> <div> <B>February 08, 2005</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>ASCAP</B> has announced two new versions of its Internet license agreements for music: "Non-Interactive 5.0" of the non-interactive sites and services agreement; and "Interactive 2.0" of the interactive sites and services agreement.</div> <bR> <div> <B>NON-INTERACTIVE 5.0</B></div> <div> The ASCAP Experimental License Agreement for Internet Sites & Services - Release 5.0 was designed for sites and services that perform ASCAP music in a non-interactive manner. "Non-interactive" means that users cannot select individual songs or posted song collections unless the performance is not more than sixty (60) seconds in duration.</div> <div> ASCAP makes specific note of podcasting in the license:</div> <div> Examples of non-interactive music uses that qualify for Release 5.0 include...Radio broadcasts or pod-casts that do not offer a play-list, program guide, and do not make advance lists of the songs contained in the programs available prior to their transmission.</div> <bR> <div> <B>INTERACTIVE 2.0</B></div> <div> The ASCAP Experimental License Agreement for Interactive Sites & Services - Release 2.0 was designed for sites and services that permit their users to select particular songs or pre-posted song programs, such as an album or set list.</div> <div> Podcasts with an advance set list would fall into this category.</div> <div> ASCAP's Minimum Annual Fees are:</div> <div> Non-Interactive 5.0: $288</div> <div> Interactive 2.0: $340</div> <div> For more information, see the <A HREF="http://www.ascap.com/weblicense/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ascap.com/weblicense/">ASCAP Licenses</A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>