Copyrighted material -internet radio royalties/laws

somay1992

New Member
I have a question about Internet Radio. I'm looking to start a small radio station online. The music that I would like play would be strictly DJ MIXES. Which means people that are DJ's and would like to get a little more promoted on my internet radio would DONATE( at no charge) their audio material for me to play at my station. One of the reasons I want to do that is because I know many DJ's myself. Some are from Miami, New York, Chicago, Philly and some of them are from Dutch-land, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Ukraine. Some Dj's even reside in Russia. I was doing some research and I discovered that if I would want to use material that is copyrighted I would need to pay ROYALTIES. Because Im just starting - my capital would not allow me do that. That's why I'm looking for some small, medium type of DJ's to send(donate) me their mixes.
MY QUESTION IS: lets say I have few 1 hour mixtapes by one of these DJ's and I play it on my radio. If I'm correct I would not have to worry about no royalties because the person that have created / mixed it donated it to me personally at no charge. Eventually when ill get my listeners and some capital with it – I would be able to add some other popular music and of course pay them their cut(royalties)
I want to do everything the right way.
Please share all of your thoughts !!! Your respond is well appreciated
thank you

 

lprock

New Member
going "by the book" you should get the artist's permission or be licensed to broadcast it. if it's mainstream material used in a mix you really should be licensed. licensing in lots of countries is pretty painless so you may want to check that out, it may be affordable for you. alternatively you may want to join a radio network & possibly piggyback on their license. shoot me an email at: admin@lprock.fm I have a proposal for you if you are interested!
ken
 

Support

Level 1 Support
Staff member
If you plan on playing copyrighted material which you do not have permission from the copyright owners then you should have a license in all circumstances. This includes also playing back another DJ's pre-recorded mix which would still contain copyrighted material. It is irrelevant if the mix was donated for free or not as it will still most likely contain music not owned by the DJ. As the station playing the music back, you would be the ones eligible for the licensing.

The following links will be of some use to you:

http://forum.internet-radio.com/faq/10-do-i-need-license.html
Radio Broadcasting Licence
Online radio and services - PPL

Also: http://forum.internet-radio.com/gui...music-sites-free-legal-music-you-station.html

We hope this helps. 8)
 
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