Ya, I'm shaking my head too at Ed's last statement...Like - what was that. All I know is that I listen to RFV and I love it, and so anymore of the same is fine with me. And, I know that Brian does all of this free, and I think he does a great job, and I think that VIRGIN internet and JPFOLKS is a very cool thing.

Mike - I do understand internet law can be tedious and maybe take the fun out of something that is really exciting for JPFOLKS members. I'm not trying to rain on the party. I just really would like to understand the mechanics behind streaming on demand, because I think anyone who might be involved with it as a music creator should understand it.

With that, the RIAA web site has a good section on webcasting. An interactive subscription service is definately not subject to statutory licensing or webcasting rates. An interactive subscription service is not the same as a non-interactive webcast. The rates for an interactive service have to be negotated seperately with each SR holder.

But, this is what it says in that copyright office link a gave a few posts back:

In 2001, the RIAA, the National Music Publishers' Association, Inc. ("NMPA"), and the Harry Fox Agency, Inc. ("HFA") entered into an agreement concerning the mechanical licensing of musical works for new subscription services on the Internet. Licenses issued under the RIAA/NMPA/HFA agreement are nonexclusive and cover all reproduction and distribution rights for delivery of on-demand streams and limited downloads and include the right to make server copies, buffer copies and other related copies used in the operation of a covered service. The license also provides at no additional cost for "On-Demand Streams of Promotional Excerpts," which are defined as a stream consisting of no more that thirty (30) seconds of playing time of the sound recording of a musical work or no more than the lesser of ten percent (10%) or sixty (60) seconds of playing time of a sound recording of a musical work longer than five minutes.

So, there may be an agreement already in place that sets the rates if you get a license from a SR AND a PA holder that wants to abide by this agreement.

Now, I do want to correct one thing I said in a previous post. 30 second promotional clips are legal if you have a license under this agreement. But, absent that, in general you have to have permission to use a clip, 30 seconds or otherwise, and that jives with the law. Here is what the RIAA site said about that:

. . . Using a :30 clip. Rumors abound that using 30 seconds or less of a song doesn’t require a license. Not true. Although some uses of small amounts of music are considered fair use and don’t require a license (see copyright section for a definition of fair use), generally speaking, the use of any part of a song requires a license. So, if you perform, reproduce or distribute clips, you should contact the sound recording copyright owner for a license. Note that offering clips on-demand does not qualify for a statutory license.

I'll go away for now. I think it is really exciting the VIRGIN thing, I'm all for it.


[This message has been edited by Liszt Laughing (edited 03-15-2004).]

Boo...my name is Doug