[asterisk-users] Royalty for On Hold Music ?

[Jay R. Ashworth]

On Tue, Jul 31, 2007 at 07:25:00AM -0400, Jared Smith wrote:
> On Tue, 2007-07-31 at 06:36 +0100, Deepak Naidu wrote:
> > I think we need to pay for the later, but I am not sure if we need to
> > pay for the inbuilt asterisk(freepbx) on hold music.
> 
> I'm no lawyer, but here's what I understand.  (Please consult with an
> attorney in your area, and don't consider this legal advice.)
> 
> The hold music that comes with Asterisk is provided by Digium under
> license from Freeplay Music Corporation for use in conjunction
> with the Asterisk software only.  It's my understanding that you don't
> have to pay any kind of royalties to use it, as long as you're using it
> with Asterisk.
> 
> You *do* have to pay royalties on music (or MP3 files) by commercial
> artists.  These royalties vary by country.  Using commercial music as
> hold music is considered broadcasting the music, which requires
> different licensing arrangements with the copyright holder.  In the
> United States, you can buy a license from ASCAP (the American Society of
> Composers, Authors, and Publishers) to be able to broadcast music from
> the major record labels.

ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC, depending on which PRO the music is registered with.

Note that while there is lots of "buyout" production music out there,
*some* of that buyout is *only* for the synchronization rights and the
performance royalties are *still* due to the PRO.  Synch rights are for
the performers, performance rights are for the composers.

Some buyout libraries pay their composers a flat buyout in turn for the
rights, and don't register, or they're staffers.  These libraries you
can use without having to have a BMI or ASCAP license.

If the titles of the tracks include (BMI) or (ASCAP), it's a good bet
you need a blanket license to use them legally.

Note that this is *still* true if someone *sells* you on-hold tracks:
the end-user is responsible for performance rights fees, even though
the creator of the composite tracks is responsible for the sync rights.

IANAL, either.

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
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