So I’ve been screwing around with an idea lately (I know, cheating on my normal lack of thoughts..), and I’ve never heard it summed up as well as I did here
If you want to operate an internet radio station legally,
you need to do these things:
Follow the play limits and other restrictions on content
mentioned in the DMCA, and summarized above;
Fill out the licensing forms from
ASCAP,
BMI, and
SESAC,
and send each of them at least a couple hundred dollars a year;
Fill out the webcasting licensing
form for
RIAA,
and expect them to start hitting you with a large bill some time
next year.
If you want to do something different, for example, if you want
to let users choose the songs to download, or you want to archive dj
sets, or you want to allow the world at large to collaboratively dj
by voting on what song to play next, or anything at all
interactive that actually takes advantage of the power of the
internet: well... you're fucked. When you go into that world, you
are out of the ``compulsory license'' territory, and must negotiate
with all of the copyright holders individually, which is
prohibitively complicated, since there are so many of them.
Added at *unbreakable numeric code-time* by dave:
One addition to the linked info: BMI statistically samples your station rather than figures it out on their own- you have to fill out a log over a 72-hour period at least twice a year. Kind of fun if you work at a station, since you get to decide who gets paid.
Don’t even get me started about “fair use.”