Hi Gary, NEFFA has been paying ASCAP $150 per year for a number of years now. We were first contacted about 10 years ago. We actually did a survey of both our annual Festival and our dance series, and made them an offer of something like $25/yr. Unfortunately, we are a relatively large target, compared to a small dance series. NEFFA was recently contacted by a representative of a small community dance in Maine, asking for our advice. ASCAP had gone after the town who owns the hall that they rented. The town, in turn, came after the dance organizer. I would modify Dave's advice a bit and recommend that you do everything you can to get yourself onto their list of organizations that are just too small to go after. I would be careful about telling them to come identify what they think they have a right to, for fear of appearing to be hiding something. I don't know how they 'audit' any organization, but you probably don't want them on your case. They have been known to demand immediate payment from coffeehouses and similar venues for payments in arrears - amounts in the range of $1000. Not trying to scare you here, just letting you know what you are up against. Feel free to contact me - I can tell you more about how we dealt with them.
Best regards, Bill -- Bill Cowie, President New England Folk Festival Association www.neffa.org > Hi Gary, > > ASCAP does this occasionally to dances. There was conversation about > it on contrasf (sound forum) a few years ago. I'll forward you the > emails about it off-list, but to summarize briefly for everybody who's > interested: > > - Several dance organizations have had ASCAP contact them over the > years asking for money > - Very little music performed at contra dances is licensed by ASCAP > (Larry Unger's tunes, a couple other ones, but that's it) > - No dance has every paid ASCAP anything as far as I can tell > > Some solutions other dance organizations have taken: > > - Call ASCAP and talk about it, explain that you're a dance that makes > little money, and then they drop it > - Make it part of your contract with performers that they receive > permission for any copyrighted material that they perform > - Tell ASCAP that you don't generally have performers play copyrighted > music and ask them to come and identify anything that they think they > have a right to > > I do note that I am not positive that ASCAP has an exclusive license > with any composers in the first place; if not, then the composer can > still give permission to perform music, so they really won't be able > to enforce anything. But I'm no expert in patent or copyright law. > > My recommendation would be to respond and tell them that your dance > uses traditional tunes, not copyrighted material, and ask them to give > specific examples if they think there are infringing things being > played at your dances. My guess is, you won't hear back from them. > > -Dave > > On 4/2/12, Donald Perley <[email protected]> wrote: >> Maybe you're "special" because you're close enough to ASCAP's offices >> that some employee saw a notice for your dance. >> >> If you have public performances of recorded music in copyright, then you >> owe. >> If you have purely live music of traditional tunes (out of copyright) >> then you're in the clear. >> If you have live bands playing stuff still in copyright, then someone >> owes but I'm not sure if that's you or the band, and I'm not sure if >> ASCAP is the one to collect. >> >> On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 12:00 PM, Gary Shapiro >> <[email protected]> wrote: >>> Fellow organizers, >>> >>> I'm writing as a board member of the Santa Barbara Country Dance >>> Society. >>> >>> Our Treasurer received a formal letter from ASCAP, trolling (?) for >>> money. >>> The subject ASCAP uses is "First Offer." >>> >>> Has anyone else received this and how did you deal with it? And if no >>> one >>> else has, why are we so special? >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Organizers mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers >> _______________________________________________ >> Organizers mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers >> > > > -- > David Casserly > (cell) 781 258-2761 > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers >
