Got a Custom Ringtone? ASCAP Wants You to Pay Up
We hate it when someone's cell phone blasts a popular song while we're eating in a restaurant or shopping at the grocery store. In our opinion, it's rude, tasteless, and annoying; just silence the phone, please. But a new claim by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) might make folks think twice about turning down that T.I. ringtone while in public.According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), ASCAP said in a legal brief that every time a music ringtone sounds in public, the phone's user is in violation of copyright law for 'performing publicly' without a license. Even though you've paid money for the ringtone, more is owed, ASCAP claims, in the form of a 'public performance' royalty. AT&T and Verizon contend that all parties involved with a given song's creation (songwriters, publishers, musicians) receive money for each download, making everybody square. ASCAP, though, says that's not the case.
The EFF claims that ASCAP is misinformed when it comes to copyright law. According to the EFF, no court has ever ruled that a cell phone's music tone played in public qualifies as a 'public performance.' Additionally, the law has an exception for performances that do not have any commercial purpose, which we'd think would cover ringtones. If the court were to affirm ASCAP's argument, that would mean all those old-school types that walk around toting speakerboxes -- and possibly the jambox manufacturers, themselves -- would owe those additional royalties, too.
Alright, so we do hate ringtones in public places, but we think it's utterly ridiculous to say these qualify as 'public performances.' The ringtone business has made boatloads of money for the music industry. Frankly, without it, the industry would be in worse shape than it is already. So, we say shame on ASCAP for being money-hungry, and shame on all those, too, who insist on sharing their musical tastes in such a public manner. Aside from you, of course, Raheem. You're cool. [From: The EFF, via Textually]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sanskrit said 10:03AM on 6-24-2009
Okay, that's just a new low in greed. What's next, opening a clamshell phone violating the DCMA?
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TVGenius said 10:31AM on 6-24-2009
If they want to play that game, then that also would apply to those dopes who drive around with their car stereos blasting too....
I work in TV and dealing with music royalties and clearance is every bit as asinine to us as RIAA is to the average consumer.
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marigwanna420 said 11:00AM on 6-24-2009
hmmmm..... i am all for this... they should ban all public music playing because these musicians worked real hard to make this music and tens of millions of dollars isnt enough.... they need hundreds of millions.... its just not fair to them that we get to enjoy their work without paying them for it... ok so what we are going to do here is produce all this music technology and market it saying you can put music on it and make your own cd's and put the songs on your cell phone but then we are going to make it illegal to use... or at least you cant use it without paying every time its heard in public....
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