Originally posted by GrooveNerd:
How many of you know that it is against the law for stores, restaurants, etc. to play background music, even from radio stations, without paying ASCAP (or one of those organizations') fees? That falls under the "public performance" category. I'd say they've all got a pretty good racket going...
Sympathy factor: 1.000x10^-1337
...And don't even get me started on commercial-infested, heavy-rotation, safe-playlist, cookie-cutter, voice-tracked FM radio like Cheap Channel, et al...  All I can say is, thank the Lord in heaven above for the internet and streaming audio!
Marty
Don't get me started on ASCAP or BMI. I am on my college's radio station and despite the fact that we are non-profit we still have to pay royalties and licenses galore, it is f'd up. We don't make any money yet they still make theirs.
Speaking of "public performance" we tried to put on a showing of "Evil Dead" for halloween. Because of the MPAA and their long arm if we wanted to put it on it would have cost us ~$700 to RENT the film. It gets even better because the theater we wanted to show it in could only old about 200 ppl and we had no intention of charging anyone anything.
Everyone gives their stuff away when they are a nobody but once they make it big they want every last penny. I am not saying I don't buy CD's, DVD's or software because I probably buy more than most people. It just annoys me the expectations some people have.
"Bros before Hoes" <-- More men need this mentality.
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