[BC] ASCAP and BMI and Rights

[WFIFeng@aol.com]

In a message dated 01/26/2006 4:32:39 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
lfuss2 at cox.net writes:

> There is an exemption for stores that simply have a radio sitting on the
>  counter, but
>  the music Gestapo will never tell you that - you have to go look it up
>  yourself.  A local
>  hardware store used to play our station on their telephone system hold  -
>  they were 
>  told they couldn't even do that without paying ASCAP.

Yeah... like people actually call businesses and say, "Please put me on hold. 
I would like to enjoy some music. You can bill me for it, too." If people 
actually *did* that, then ,yes, I could see the business having to pay something, 
because they would be *charging* people to listen to music on hold. Where 
does such a thing exist in reality, though?

It's nonsense in the worst degree. How long, typically, is the average person 
on hold? Unless it's a "Tech Support" queue, usually not very long. A few 
seconds to a minute? Yeah, that person is really *listening* to that faintly 
audible music... which is most likely just a commercial, local weather, or 
whatever, anyway. Yeah... the Music Mafia needs to be compensated for that. Uh-huh.

It's yet another case of double-billing! That radio station is already 
paying! All the small business did was hook-up a $9 radio to their phone system's 
on-hold inputs. Egads, man. It's sickening. Really.

Sure, I know that an unmodified radio behind a counter is exempt... that was 
the result of that lawsuit against that little one-man barbershop! At least 
*there* was a Judge with some sense. I wonder how much that poor barber had to 
pay for his own defense, though. I shudder at the thought. He obviously had to 
close his shop every time he had to appear in Court, too! Pathetic.

Yes, this is a hot-button topic for me.

Willie...