anotherrrrrr podsafe music thread

[crybabyemokids]

There was another post in which i raised this, but I would like to do it again as I've gotten different views.

I host a show that plays emo/alt rock bands, MOST of them unsigned. In the past we did play a couple RIAA protected songs :oops: :twisted: ,
but now we stick to a particular plan.

We email all the bands we want to feature on our show asking them if it's okay, and MOST of them reply with a "sure thanks a lot for promoting us!!"

I've emailed(multiple times) all the major independant labels also asking them if it's safe to play their songs on my show to promote their artists.
None of them have gotten back to me, but most of the bands have.

It was all going fine until someone sent me this.

The bands, believe it or not, do NOT have the right to be able to tell you that you can play their music. Unless they are unsigned, recording studios stipulate in their contracts that they hold the exclusive rights to broadcast and distribute that band’s performance. Sony/BMG, EMI, Universal, whoever… owns the music and not the artist. Shitty for the artist, but true.

read up on some music distribution contracts and recognize that you may be legally liable for what you’ve done already, EVEN IF you do “cease and desist.”

It’s also a civil penalty, not a criminal penalty, but damages starting at $105K per song, times the number of times the file was downloaded… ouch.

:|
As you can see I am definately worried now. Since labels like Epitaph and Saddle-Creek have gone podsafe(both I emailed like a month ago asking if it was safe to play on podcasts), I was wondering if the RIAA would really sue a non-profit promotional podcast made by two 17 year olds for 105k X 300 (number of subscribers to show#3 where i illegally played RIAA songs)

30million$ :| and thats only for one song..I think I played like 3 of them.

It's probably more than what these companies make in a year.

The bands WANT to be played on my show, but if what I just quoted is true, then they really don't have much power do they?

I will play podsafe music now, but a majority of my music would be non-podsafe, but from unsigned bands.
No more My Chemical Romance and Hawthorne Heights for me :(

Now to the QUESTIONS
1: Can they sue me for what I've already played on my show(without informing me to remove the material)
2: What do you suggest is the way to deal with these bands who want to be played but their record contract says otherwise.
3: Can i pay the licensing monthly or whatever, 200$ is impossible right now, but i'm sure if there was a monthly subscription it would be much easier..I could start a donation thingy or whatever.


I'm a member of the Teen Podcasters Network (www.teenpodcasters.com) and apparently some other podcasts in the network are jealous of me or something and they APPARENTLY, "reported" me to the RIAA. I'm scared now :cry:

Hope you guys could give me the best advice :D:D
Thanks again
Jay

[deadwhiteguy]

Likely they would not sue you. Well actually they probably would, but would just press for an out of court settlement. They are buttheads like that.

Most likely though all they would likely do (at a guess I am no lawyer) is give you a cease and desist and insist you take down the show, or threaten you till you pay ASCAP or whatever the appropriate one is.

[paulyb]

I'd just retire any show with songs you think might not be podsafe but yes from what I understand you definitely need to get the label's permission and NOT just the band's. We retired two shows on this basis and are now getting emails from people "Requesting" the missing "Punky!"s. You couldn't make it up.

[crybabyemokids]

cant I just wait for them to contact me.

I also mailed a couple of those "free law advice" websites out there on the internet, they said that silence from the labels means that they're not bothered about it right now, and that if I retain records of all my mails to them, they got nothing on me 8)

Well i don't know, but i'll keep the shows on there until furthur notice, but 100% podsafe from now on<3

[LoveHouseRadio]

I've always heard they start with a letter to get you to cease use and possibly clean-up by removing your old shows. It would seem odd that they would start with sueing but never put it past them- I am sure they would like to make an example of someone to get others to bow down too.

[yaz]

on our show we play mostly metal, our thoughts are:

a) there is a remote chance of the artists finding out
b) metal music gets such little airplay, that they would appreciate any extra exposure
c) we are not making any money by playing their music, so its not for profit, we are mere fans of these bands and let people know that
d) we're both broke bitchasses, what is a band gonna do to us? sue us for our bills?

if any of this makes sense, i don't know, but i'd like to see what all you think about it...

[crybabyemokids]

yaz,
your logic is absolutely the same as ours. We too just want to promote the bands and we're not making a dime off these promotions.

Thing is, the bands may never even hear the show, but the RIAA would. Which sucks, because if there was no mediating body, the bands would definately say yes and be willing to help promote their music.

I've been trying to make my self believe what we're doing is fine, and another "logical" assumption I made while doing this was that since we don't deal with "mainstream" music, the RIAA COULD go easy on us..I dunno, I'm probably just trying to justify my actions to myself but hey..


On a sweeeter note, I got another 2 indie labels to let me play their tracks on our show (but theyre still not on the podsafe network) so yay :D

[yaz]

i don't know what would happen if the riaa knocked on our door...maybe we'd have to throw a pedo at them...

[LoveHouseRadio]

Thing is, the bands may never even hear the show, but the RIAA would. Which sucks, because if there was no mediating body, the bands would definately say yes and be willing to help promote their music.

Rule of thumb, IMHO, make sure the bands know you are playing them and urge your audience to do the same. That is another great thing about the way the Podsafe Music Network is setup- notifications sent to the artist when you log that you played their songs.

You're absolutely right, if they don't know it sucks and if the RIAA comes a knockin it really sucks- combination of the two is pretty anti-productive.

[crybabyemokids]

Just came across a gem of a tool (http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/search.asp)

Just put in the artists name and find out if theyre RIAA protected or not. Realllly helps ;)

Question is, if we take for granted that this site is accurate..and if a band goes as"RIAA Safe", does this automatically mean they're podsafe? If not podsafe, at least we can't get sue'd by anyone right?(If we have issued notice to the artist?)

We mail all the bands we play, but even if they dont respond I have proof that i sent them a mail :D

[spartacusroosevelt]

RIAA Free (which sometimes RIAA Radar is wrong about) is not pod safe. Maybe podsafer, but the indie or the band could come after you. One of the biggest outages Soulseek ever had was after an indie artist filed a DMCA complaint.