[BC] Music In Commercials

[Rich Wood]

------ At 09:09 AM 2/2/2012, Mike McCarthy wrote: -------

>When I was much younger, I was in choir and each of us was issued
>"original" paper for each piece ostensibly for that very same reason.
>Each voice is considered a performance.

That same requirement requires that every song played on the station
must have an original copy (disc or download). Gone are the days when
an employee could bring in material from their personal collections.
If you changed the logger tape and the next one recorded the song,
that was another copy. In the lawsuit I mentioned, the opposing side
counted every copy that was made. Some early computer automation
systems stored a copy on a server. When it was needed it was
downloaded to the workstation and played from there. Now you have two
copies. The new logger tape, if it recorded the music, was another
copy. As I recall, each station was allowed no more than 5 copies.
With three workstations in use you have two additional copies. Let's
say you archive the logger tapes for 90 days. How many additional
copies would you have on each of the original replacement tapes.
Consider that each tape might log a week, If a song was in a hot
rotation imagine how many total copies the station would have.

Each copy over 5 in any form was a violation. The attacking attorneys
counted them all in the suit.

It's been a while but I'm pretty sure it wasn't an ASCAP requirement.
ASCAP agreed we were within their license's provisions but they
weren't absolutely sure of other organizations and wouldn't represent
us. It was another organization representing the publisher or artist.
The claim was that we were reducing the future commercial value of the song.

Most stations feel they're covered by their ASCAP, BMI and SESAC
agreements. Trust me. It's not for everything.

Rich