ITEM [via Threat Level]: ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) has been arguing in court that they should be entitled to charge Verizon and AT&T double for ringtones royalties on the grounds that when a ringtone begins playing, it constitutes a “public performance” of the song – which essentially means that you (and yr mobile phone service provider) are guilty of copyright infringement every time someone calls you and yr not in “silent” mode.
A federal judge has
called bullshit on that notion, reports the EFF:
That's thanks to Section 110(4) of the Copyright Act, which exempts public performances undertaken "without any purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage." In the words of the court, "customers do not play ringtones with any expectation of profit." This ruling should also protect consumers who roll down their car windows with the radio on, who take a radio to the beach, or who sing "Happy Birthday" to their children in a public park (remember, ASCAP once demanded royalties from Girl Scouts for singing around the camp fire!). Nice try, though, ASCAP.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I was once entitled to royalties from rival publishing group BMI.
Pay to play,
This is dF
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