ASCAP Crap?

Well I think the new ASCAP licence is a bunch of confusing crap. Here is my rundown of the 2 licences offered.

“NON-INTERACTIVE 5.0” – $288
Can only play songs if they have not been posted in a playlist ex. “show notes” and can not be played for longer than 60 sec in duration.

“INTERACTIVE 2.0” – $340
You can play the whole song, you can post playlists ex. “show notes”, but you still have to pay royalties on a per download of your podcast. So everytime someone downloads your podcast you still have to pay a royalty.

Crap, complete crap!!!!!

Someone let me know if my interpretation is incorrect. Do these people not get it?

-jeff

6 thoughts on “ASCAP Crap?

  1. Well, being a neophite to the whole subject, I was under the impression that you could use any song you liked under the fair-use clause as long as it wasn’t longer than 60 seconds and wasn’t involved in a revenue generating broadcast… if this isn’t the case, my idea of a podcast called “59 and 1/2 seconds” kinda craps out… have to get a lawyer these days just to be a hobbiest at ANYTHING. Anyone know where I can locate info on this subject?

    Money is ruining the internet…

  2. Am I reading this wrong? If i read the non-interactive 5.0 column it says:
    “Non-interactive” means that users cannot select individual songs or posted song collections unless the performance is not more than sixty (60) seconds in duration.”
    I take this to mean that individual songs can be downloaded using the an ipodder client as long as they do not exceed 60 secs. But as for the royalties:
    Examples of non-interactive music uses that qualify for Release 5.0 include:
    Radio broadcasts or pod-casts that do not offer a play-list, program guide, and do not make advance lists of the songs contained in the programs available prior to their transmission
    Therefore I think you can play a complete song as long as it is embedded in your podcast and not printed in the show notes. And no royalties as long as revenue free podcast. Am I right on this? Please correct me

  3. Folks, it’s far worse than this…an ASCAP license only gives you the right to perform a song yourself. If you want to play a recorded version of a song you still need an RIAA license and, guess what, you can’t get one for a podcast. For more details on why not check out my “Behind the Scenes” pocast from 2/16/05.

  4. Craig, thanks for your insight. This information just shows you that there are way to many hands in the cookie jar when it comes to the music biz.

    It all just makes my head hurt thinking about it.

    -jeff

  5. In regards to Craigs post,
    I’m afraid if you want to get technical, since we are talking about an MP3 download and not a stream wouldn’t it seem more likely to be a mechanical license through Harry Fox @ 8.5 cents per song per download?

    wrecks

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