FAQ: Complying with Copyright Laws
Musical compositions and sound recordings are creative works that are protected by the copyright laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) and other countries.

Under U.S. law, the owner of a copyright has the exclusive right to (and to authorize others to) reproduce the work, use parts of the work in a new creation, distribute the work in whole or in part, and to publicly display or perform the work (including on web pages and through webcasting). With few exceptions, it is illegal to reproduce, distribute or broadcast a sound recording without the permission of the copyright owner. It is your responsibility to comply with the copyright laws when you become a webcaster.

There have been recent amendments to the copyright law regarding webcasting of sound recordings. These new provisions allow webcasting under the terms of a statutory license, as a way to help webcasters get permission without having to go to each sound recording's owner. The statutory license, however, has strict requirements that you must follow. Some of these requirements include the payment of license fees, limitations on the number of songs from the same album or artist that may be played in a three hour period (called the sound recording performance complement); a prohibition on publishing advance playlists; and a requirement to identify the song, artist and album on the website. There are other requirements as well.

The Recording Industry Association of America provides quite a bit of information on copyright law as it applies to webcasting, and both ASCAP and BMI have created license agreements that they are willing to grant to webcasters that they believe conform to the provisions of the new copyright rules for webcasting. For additional information on the statutory license and other aspects of webcasting, please visit the following sites:

• The U.S. Copyright Office
• The Recording Industry Association of America
• ASCAP
• BMI

These are just a few examples, you may wish to check offices in your country.

If you are uncertain about what you can and cannot do, we suggest you check with the copyright owner or the owner's representatives (such as through the organizations above), or consult a lawyer.