In a message dated 11/26/02 1:01:22 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> I was talking to a friend who has a small trio of bass,guitar and flute.
> His tri plays weddings and sometimes in one small Italian restaurant in
> town which has about 12 tables. My friend said the restaurant was contacted
> and was asked to pay a few dollars per table to cover copywrite laws
> because there would be live music playing copywrited music.
Yes, a friend of mine does a lot of arranging for the Toledo Symphony so he's
been very conscious of copyright law lately. He mentioned to me a while ago
that a well known(I've forgotten who) brass quintet had gotten a stiff fine
from (I think it was) ASCAP for playing copyrighted material on a concert
without paying the royalties. He also mentioned a situation similar to yours
at a bar in Toledo that has live music. They had the squeeze put on them to
pay up. Apparently it's okay to play a copyrighted song it if you don't play
it from written music, for example, if you're improvising an arrangement "by
ear". So just memorize all your tunes and tell them you're playing by ear!
It's important to shake down the small fry from time to time so Disney
doesn't go hungry!
-Steve
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