DJ's out of law!

[Masdefi]

I am reading on the newspaper that in some discos here in Italy there has been last week some controls by finance agents and some DJ's were out of law (and DJ have been asked for pay) because they were using CD's burned for mixing, and those CD's are not considered as legal copies according the law.... very curious that the disco owner was not out of law too.... what happens abroad? In this case how could a DJ do his job? Thanks...

[Bernie]

This is a burning issue (pardon the pun :-) ) that will be cropping up more and more as CD-R's, DVD-R's, MP3's and AAC files become commonplace in the DJ booth.

I would imagine if the DJ can prove he owns the original record or CD that this should not be a problem.

[Mixmachine]

Wow, that is a new twist in the rules, here in the States Dj’s were always covered to ‘Spin’ under the clubs payments to BMI and ASCAP, haven’t heard anything about CDR or MP3 spinning, maybe they feel DJs are selling to many CDR and they are beginning to crack down, they are sure getting tough overall , I know now the Labels are suing individual MP3 down loaders instead of the ‘File Sharing Services” they did in the past, a few college kids had to fork out thousands in penalties after loosing case in court, stay tuned….

[originalbigm]

Actually the rules have been in effect in North America for a number of years. the rules go something like this.If the club owner has purchased the records being played there is no infringement since he has already paid the royalty fee in the purchase and is the owner of the establishment.There are no royalty fees involved in record company DJ promos that may be played hence no violation of copyright.Technically if the DJ brings his own commercial records into the club to spin this a violation of the copyright laws.The copyright laws are bit convoluted and difficult to monitior and enforce.Hence it hasn't been a big issue here.
Now onto the subject of mobile DJ's.Anyone who compiles and burns his own CDR for use in gigs is in direct violation of copywright laws and subject to fines and seizure and loss of his equipment.Most professional DJ's subscribe to compilation services who pay licensing fees to the record companies to allow them to provide these DJ's with approved licensed CDR's.
I know here in Canada they actually have inspectors who go out to banquet halls etc. where a Dj is playing and check the libraries of the DJ's for any copyright infringements.
Yes the music industry has it's Gestapo agents looking after their interests

[Masdefi]

Technically if the DJ brings his own commercial records into the club to spin this a violation of the copyright laws.

I have never heard of that, I know a lot od DJ's spinning their own records in the clubs. Almost in Italy I think this law is not effective.

Now onto the subject of mobile DJ's.Anyone who compiles and burns his own CDR for use in gigs is in direct violation of copywright laws and subject to fines and seizure and loss of his equipment.Most professional DJ's subscribe to compilation services who pay licensing fees to the record companies to allow them to provide these DJ's with approved licensed CDR's.
I know here in Canada they actually have inspectors who go out to banquet halls etc. where a Dj is playing and check the libraries of the DJ's for any copyright infringements.
Yes the music industry has it's Gestapo agents looking after their interests

Really? this too is new to me. :o
Thanks to all for replying to this post.

[john.england]

This is a burning issue (pardon the pun :-) ) that will be cropping up more and more as CD-R's, DVD-R's, MP3's and AAC files become commonplace in the DJ booth.

I would imagine if the DJ can prove he owns the original record or CD that this should not be a problem.

In the USA, it doesn't matter if its a retail copy or a promo, it is the club owner's responsibility to pay the ASCAP,BMI and SESAC fees (monies that go to the songwriters) for playing music for the public. I could see the DJ getting in trouble if he downloaded something and burned it to CD and then played it in front of the public, however the copyright law does provide for a backup, so if I have the original promo and burn a copy to CD and play it, I'm still ok...as long as the bar owner has paid their fees.

[dj phillip esparza]

This is a burning issue (pardon the pun :-) ) that will be cropping up more and more as CD-R's, DVD-R's, MP3's and AAC files become commonplace in the DJ booth.

I would imagine if the DJ can prove he owns the original record or CD that this should not be a problem.

In the USA, it doesn't matter if its a retail copy or a promo, it is the club owner's responsibility to pay the ASCAP,BMI and SESAC fees (monies that go to the songwriters) for playing music for the public. I could see the DJ getting in trouble if he downloaded something and burned it to CD and then played it in front of the public, however the copyright law does provide for a backup, so if I have the original promo and burn a copy to CD and play it, I'm still ok...as long as the bar owner has paid their fees.

he is correct about this.the club /bar i worked for had to pay copy right fees.all the dj's that played cd-r's that were down loaded from the web.i believe that dj's should pay for the music they play.it was very weired i have to say.all the dj's played cd's were all over 45 od age.me being the youngest dj (32) i played vinyl.

[Discomanic]

Does any of this make any sense? I was always under the impression that promo copies were just that. Record companies wanted the DJs to play their music to get the public interested in buying their products (hence back to the days of Payola when DJs were paid to play certain records and under today's senario the DJs should pay for the records they play, that's crazy!!!). I may be in the dark but I was aware that radio stations paid royalties to the ASCAP, BMI, etc. But if all the disco clubs back in the days paid ASCAP, BMI, etc., then it would appear to me that royalties on those records has fizzled out. It would be a slap in the face if all clubs and radio stations turned to all talk for entertainment and quit playing music?? :cry: Then what would the RIAA do? Just some thoughts.