Hi Jon-
Some of my info is old (like me!) and if I get something wrong the young 'uns will be along to clean up.
What's your
role? DJ/VJ for hire? Sound designer for theater? Production provider wondering in you're liable for someone else's violation?
BMI and
ASCAP are "rights organizations" that, for a fee, collect and distribute royalties from "compulsory licenses" required of venues that permit the public performance of copyrighted works (and royalties from broadcasting, recording, a couple others). Copyright law is pretty
clear - whether or not for profit, compulsory licenses are required. More than 1 license may be required. There are rights licensing organizations set up for the unique needs of houses of worship and IIRC, schools, too.
Generally the
venue is responsible for obtaining and maintaining the compulsory licenses, but they are not enjoined from passing those expenses along to their customers. It's common for venues to lump these kinds of general overhead into a 'facility fee' or other generic term.
I'd not expect a privately owned
venue to tell a client "no, you can't have a DJ" or "no, you can't show your Little Mermaid DVD" at a kid's party. They don't stay in business saying no, and they'll be fine until they're not. In the case of one bar from my town, an
ASCAP agent spent 5 hours drinking coffee and keeping a list of every song played on the bar *stereo
system* (not a juke box). The bar was later given the opportunity to
purchase a license, which they declined. They were then charged in US District Court with copyright infringement , and when they did not appear, summary judgement was entered for
ASCAP. The Court later had to enforce its restitution order by US Marshals seizing the business and auctioning the contents to satisfy judgment. Will it happen? Hard to say. Can it happen? Yes, I've seen it.
Another type of rights is called "grand rights", and those are for uses not qualified under compulsory license. Among these rights is *synchronization*, which goes back to using existing music in a motion picture; later to include TV and video production (and these days, streaming) where "the work" was not the product but a component in another production. So when a beer brand uses a classic rock song, or a pickup truck maker does it, the right to synchronize is a negotiated deal (lawyers, accountants, money). In video games, too... Grand Theft Auto, when you played the radio in the car, those songs (and the original performances used, if any) had to be separately licensed. Also falling under grand rights is the use of a work in a
play, say a particular piece of music, or a TV clip visible to the audience.
So whose rights are these, anyway? Rights belong to the creators of "the work." For music that means the composer of the melody and any accompaniment, and the author of the words/lyrics. These people own all rights to their work upon creation; registration is a needed formality (like proving things later). For further information I suggest you listen to The Kinks song "Money Go Round.".. so great, they own a song, what to do with it? Songs need publishers, so songwriters signed up with publishing companies who received 50% of revenue, the remaining 50% split between the composer and author. Publishers did several things over the centuries but all of it involves getting the works in their catalog in front of the public, so sheet music,
Edison cylinders and records, radio broadcasting, public performances... all were ways to oil the machine of popular culture.
Copyright law also provides protection for "fixing" of a work on another media; recording a song for sale on a phonorecord (actual legal term) is one manner. In this case the composer and author earn a statutory rate (like a compulsory license) for each copy of their work sold. The performance itself, fixed to the phonorecord, is also a "work" and subject to its own protections (grand rights, among them). The rights of the creators and the rights to the performance are separate. If the creators and performers are the same persons, the better the personal profit... and those separate rights can be sold, leased, or divided without affecting each other. Another example of "fixing" a work would be printing sheet music or producing a digital version from which a live performance could be rendered.