Exemptions from fees:

A food service or drinking establishment is eligible for the exemption if it (1) has less than 3750 gross square feet of space (in measuring the space, the amount of space used for customer parking only is always excludable); or (2) has 3750 gross square feet of space or more and (a) uses no more than 6 loudspeakers of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space; and (b) if television sets are used, there are no more than 4 televisions, of which not more than 1 is located in any 1 room and none has a diagonal screen size greater than 55 inches.

An other establishment is eligible for the exemption if it (1) has less than 2000 gross square feet of space; or (2) has 2000 or more gross square feet of space and satisfies the same loudspeaker and television set requirements as for food service or drinking establishments

First the asphalt guy doesn’t get a royalty because he’s an EMPLOYEE… his employer pays him a wage, and he’s getting the benefit of his bargain.. .trading his time for dollars. Period.

Songwriters don’t get paid for their time… they create PROPERTY, and the law provides for them to get paid every time someone uses that property.

In the street corner boom-box scenario The kids dancing don’t pay directly, Payment to the songwriters is covered (in part) by the RADIO STATION paying royalties. This is actually one of the largest sources of revenue for songwriters.

The “army of auditors” you’re referring to actually exists. Each of the Performance Rights Organizations, (ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, here in the US) have staffs of people who actually go around identifying businesses such as dance studios, meeting halls, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, etc., that use music, and contacting them about licensing. If the business doesn’t pay for a license, these organizations DO sue them.

The law does provide for very limited exceptions for businesses using small, unsophisticated systems (like a boom-box) to play music… but if music is an integral part of the business (i.e., installed speakers throughout a restaurant, etc.) the owners should expect to pay for music, just like they pay for electricity, gas, water, etc.

Why doesn’t the guy who gets paid an hourly wage to lay asphalt also earn .02 cents every time some drives over the road?

Who really is going to police the kids dancing for money on the street corner with the their portable radios blasting out music and say “Give my $100 bucks out of your hat because that is my song you are dancing too and you didn’t get my permission to do that in a public place” – or does each city have a blanket license that covers street performers?

What army of music auditors is going to find every dance studio or community room being used as a theater to find energetic creative people working on ideas, incorporating popular music and police them as if they are doing something wrong by incorporating contemporary music into their creative process and dance or artistic development?

The issue that sometimes comes up, though, is that the alleged infringing use isn’t really a parody OF the song or work in question, but actually a Satire, using the song to poke fun at or highlight some other social issue. Satire is NOT automatically considered a fair use. The full 4-factor fair-use analysis would have to be applied to make that determination.

For plays and musicals, the rights are obtained from the play’s publisher.

If music is ADDED to a show, rights must be obtained from the publisher and record label (if a recording is used).

Or what about dance studios or small community dance productions? Where kids choreograph dance steps to pop songs and perform for family and friends in small rooms?

Thank you,
Jill Neimeyer