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HOW ONE INDEPENDENT MUSICIAN DEFEATED BMI
"Congressman McHugh had forwarded my letter to the United States Copyright Office and had elicited a response from Marilyn Kretsinger, Assistant General Counsel. I should not have been surprised. John McHugh had stood up for north country artists before, and no doubt he will do it again. Marilyn Kretsinger upheld each of my contentions. In her words, "BMI has the authority to issue a license only for those songs that are in its catalogue of representation." If the performance venue does not "publicly perform songs represented by BMI," then a BMI license is not needed. She further stated: "With respect to the musical compositions that Mr. Phillips has authored, no performance license is necessary since Mr. Phillips is the copyright owner of those songs." With respect to traditional folk songs in the public domain, if I am "not performing a copyrighted arrangement of a public domain folk song, then a BMI license is not required.
The opinion has far-reaching implications for independent musicians and for the entrepreneurs who hire them. No venue is in need of a performance license unless one or more of its musicians are performing compositions or arrangements copyrighted and licensed through ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. The copyright owner enjoys exclusive performance rights and, therefore, the exclusive right to profit from their performance. The point is so obvious that it has never been litigated, which makes this a landmark decision. The full texts of the Copyright Office opinion and all related correspondence are available online at http://www.northnet.org/minstrel, Appendix BMI."

Articles and Essays

How BMI Pays It's Royalties

Music Law

• Music Performing Rights Societies,
• Music Industry Associations
• Who to Sign with
• Music Mechanical Rights Societies and Collection Agencies
• Music Rights Clearance Organizations
• Webcasting  / Radio Streaming License
• Licences
• Royalties
• Open Audio License
  
• Advice about securing permission to avoid copywrite violations.  Who do we contact...pay...
• Is it in the Public Domain? How to find out.
• Synchronization Rights