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Permission needed?


WiggyHD

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WiggyHD wrote:

Do we need to get permission from the artist to broadcast their songs over speakers or FM transmitters?

THANKS!
Mark


To comply with the letter of the law, yes, you either need to obtain permission or pay the fees.

In a more practical vein, the general consensus is that the risk in not getting permission (or paying the fees) is worth taking.

D.T.
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From the forum link I posted. TheDementedElf went straight to BMI and got the answer we were all looking for.

"I thought I would go to the Horses mouth on this and called BMI and ASCAP. I just heard back from BMI....
Home based light Christmas light displays DO NOT need licensing. It is considered Private use. Using a part 15 transmiter does not make a difference. Now if you charge for people to view your display that is a different issue. I suspect ASCAP will have the same view. If anyone wishes the name of he BMI rep contact me via PM."

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By the way fellow Canadians I contacted "Socan Canada" a few months ago and we too do not need a license. .......

My Questions to Socan......

Where do personal house Christmas displays that use music to run Christmas lights fit in? What tariff do they fall under. They only run about 35 days out of the year and I do not think any of these displays charge admission. So what should be done?


What if a video is made of the Christmas display and upload . Where does that fit in. Does the tariff license cover that?

Thank You

Socan Rep said.....

Hello Mr. M---

You do not need a Socan license for Christmas displays with music simply because we do not license music in someone's house or backyard.

As for making a video out of such displays, you might need a CMRRA license for the synchronization rights, please check with them.

Their website is: www.cmrra.ca

I hope this answers your question, if not, do not hesitate to contact me again.

Have a good day.

Then I asked........

You used the these words "We do not license music in someone's house or backyard".

My question is....... does that include the front yard as well? Most if not all musical Christmas displays use Christmas songs or any song for that matter to make the Christmas lights dance in the front yard and some displays get a couple hundred cars a day.

This subject is a hot subject in the Christmas Decorating World.

His answer.......

Good morning,

Yes, that includes the front yard as well.

I guess you can still contact the author/composer if you wish to but like I said, you should probably contact CMRRA first if you are going to record and/or stream videos.

Thank you

There you have it fellow Canadians.

Just to let you know I never did look into the video aspect of it.

***********************************************************************

On the other hand I still ask permission from various singer/writers because I an looking for "new stuff", stuff that is good but just not main stream.

I like contacting these folks and communicating with them via email & what not. Some folks use their display to help charities and this is my way of helping out other too.

I will be putting out some new Christmas songs this year that were not released yet.

This is not everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoy it as do the writers.

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David Rise wrote:

From the forum link I posted. TheDementedElf went straight to BMI and got the answer we were all looking for.

"I thought I would go to the Horses mouth on this and called BMI and ASCAP. I just heard back from BMI....
Home based light Christmas light displays DO NOT need licensing. It is considered Private use. Using a part 15 transmiter does not make a difference. Now if you charge for people to view your display that is a different issue. I suspect ASCAP will have the same view. If anyone wishes the name of he BMI rep contact me via PM."


That is great news for Christmas light enthusiasts! It's one less thing we need to worry about!

D.T.
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