Re: [Harp-L] Plagiarism and cost of licensing for performance

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- Haka Harri <harri.haka@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Just out of curiosity, if I were to play "Juke", note for note, on a
> live gig, what amount of money would I legally have to send to Little
> Walter's sister? What about if I played a solo note for note (12
> bars) imbedded into my own song? It was already clarified that riffs
> (4 bars) are ok without royalty issues.
> 
> Harri
> A smart question, Harri.

Looking at the website of one of the main US performing rights
organizations, ASCAP, the American Society of Composers and Publishers,
they don't make it easy to get an idea of the cost of licensing of a
single song.

What they want is nightclubs and other public venues to buy a license
that will cover not just live performance but any CDs, music TV shows,
etc. that customers might be treated to. It isn't based on a precise
log of who played what, but rather a sort of estimate of likely usage
of ASCAP-controlled compositions.

Now here's a real live situation that has happened in small clubs right
here in San Francisco. I have heard that similar things have happened
elsewhere in the US and in the UK.

A small club has live music, maybe a Sunday afternoon jam session. An
ASCAP spy shows up and a few days later the club owner gets a whopping
bill for $20,000 or a similar sum, claiming use of copyrighted
compositions and failure to license, penalties, etc. The club owner,
under penalty of legal action, either gets rid of live music
altogether, counter-claims that no copyrighted composition (or only
originals) were played, or negotiates a licensing deal under pressure.

Now, let's say at that jam some harmonica player gets up, plays Juke,
and claims it's really an original. Let's say the ASCAP spy is hip
enough to know otherwise.

You can see how the harmonica player's false claim could hurt the club
owner.

We live in a world of money and laws, and music is not exempt. Sorry,
boys and girls, law, commerce, and art will alway be swirling in a
complex dance. Pretending it isn't happening or complaining that it
shouldn't be happening will not protect you when it reaches out to grab
you.

Winslow


 
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