Ringtones aren’t performances: ruling
p2pnet news view Music | Mobiles:- ASCAP recently sued AT&T, claiming each time a cellphone ringtone rang, you were listening to a performance. And that required a royalty payment to ASCAP.
So says Mashable.
“Thankfully, federal judge Denise Cote has ruled that a ringtone going off does not constitute a public performance, because the carrier has no way to control when a ringtone plays nor any expectation of revenue when it does,” says the story, continuing »»»
She also said there was no way to determine whether the threshold for ‘public performance’ would be met for any particular ringtone playback, since it usually requires a ’substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of its social acquaintances is gathered.’
And her ruling has implications for Big Music efforts to claim royalties on 30-second song previews and performance fees for TV show downloads, says mMashable, adding:
“Part of the language in the judge’s ruling also considered a ringtone download as not being a public performance either, which could set a precedent for the other suit in which ASCAP/BMI are seeking royalties on downloads.”
(Cheers, catflap)
Mashable – Judge: No Royalties for Music Industry Each Time a Ringtone Plays, October 15, 2009
Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It’s really easy!
Subscribe to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php
Net access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for details.
Related Articles
Del.Icio.Us this! | Digg this! | Reddit this! | Stumble this!
No comments yet