{"id":1247,"date":"2018-11-22T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2018-11-21T22:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/?p=1247"},"modified":"2018-11-21T17:57:42","modified_gmt":"2018-11-21T06:57:42","slug":"are-you-guilty-of-starving-musicians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/index.php\/2018\/11\/22\/are-you-guilty-of-starving-musicians\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Guilty of Starving Musicians?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dave Moore<\/h4>\n

Did you know that a licence is required to play music in your treatment room? Or in your waiting area? Or when we put someone on hold on the phone?<\/p>\n

But, Why?<\/h6>\n

Just like massage therapists, musicians have a right to be paid for their work, but unlike us, they can\u2019t collect payment directly as they work. Musicians are paid by a not-for-profit organisation called APRA AMCOS<\/a> (who, incidentally, live a couple of doors away from AMT Head Office). APRA AMCOS collect money in the form of licence fees.<\/p>\n

\u201cApproximately 85 per cent of your licence fee goes straight back to songwriters, composers and publisher members as royalties.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

-APRA AMCOS.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Any business using music in any form as part of that business is required under the Copyright Act 1968<\/a><\/em> to have a licence from APRA AMCOS. This includes background music played in a waiting-room or clinic and includes use of radio broadcasts and streaming services.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Z86vd7rFFYc<\/p>\n

This requirement is not well understood by many businesses, who believe that because they have personal rights to music, e.g. because they paid iTunes for it, they can also use it in their business. This is not the case, even if you bought a CD, you only have the right to play that CD for personal<\/em> use, not in your business, which is considered a ‘public performance’.<\/p>\n

What constitutes a \u2018Public Performance\u2019?<\/strong><\/h6>\n

A \u201cpublic performance\u201d includes live performances of music in public as well as playing recorded music in public. Any performance of copyright material which is not essentially private or domestic is likely to be regarded as \u201cin public\u201d for the purposes of copyright.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013Australian Copyright Council<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We can\u2019t say that we weren\u2019t informed. Take a look at the back of any CD and you\u2019ll see wording similar to:<\/p>\n

\u201cAll rights of the owner of copyright in this recording reserved. Any copying, renting, diffusion, public performance or broadcast of this record without the authority of the copyright owner is prohibited.<\/em><\/p>\n

This wording can be found on the rim of the CD (or vinyl disc) itself.<\/p>\n

\"\"

No judgement on Dave’s music tastes.<\/p><\/div>\n

What about streaming services?<\/strong><\/h6>\n

The Australian Copyright Council advises that a \u201ccommunication to the public\u201d means \u2018communicating copyright material electronically to the public. This includes online uses of copyright material \u2013 for example, uploading music to the internet, streaming music and emailing files (except to family and friends) \u2013 and broadcasting copyright material. Courts have held that transmitting music over the telephone while people are waiting on hold is also a communication to the public. You will need permission to use music in these sorts of ways unless a specific exception to infringement applies.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

That means we require a licence from APRA AMCOS for streaming services too.<\/p>\n

One of the largest music streaming services, Spotify, includes the following in its Terms and Conditions of Use:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And goes on to include the following under \u20188 User Guidelines\u2019:<\/p>\n

The following is not permitted for any reason whatsoever:<\/em><\/p>\n