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Music Kwik-Fit sued for listening to radio

Discussion in 'General' started by alextwo, 5 Oct 2007.

  1. alextwo

    alextwo <a href="http://forums.bit-tech.net/showpost.php?p

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    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7029892.stm

    :rolleyes:
     
  2. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    You have got to be friggin' kidding me... Man, i hope they never come by the shop here! ;)
     
  3. Poisonous

    Poisonous Incestuious

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    Could say it wasn't the radio, but in fact, their own "quick fix X factor"
     
  4. oddball walking

    oddball walking ...!

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    Dear god this is stupid, it should be thrown out.
     
  5. cderalow

    cderalow bondage master!

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    if this goes through, essentially every frigtard with a radio blaring down the street, could be sued....


    that'd be insane!
     
  6. tacticus

    tacticus What's a Dremel?

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    Same thing happens in Australia ARIA (our version of the RIAA) demand that places playing music pay a licenseing fee even if they are just playing the radio even if its on hold music i have seen them demand it for public domain music or cc licensed stuff as well :\

    They consider it a public performance. welcome to the wonders of distribution\copyrights and yet another reason they need to be seriously changed
     
  7. Ramble

    Ramble Ginger Nut

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    I listen to the radio at work.
    Just try sue me.
     
  8. Poisonous

    Poisonous Incestuious

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    ;)

    PM incoming for details to sue. ;)
     
  9. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    It is not the only case either.

    but this case won't fly.

    The radio station pays a fee to the Performing Rights Society for the music that they broadcast. The rate they pay is scaled according to how many people hear the music, and generally radio stations pay one big fee to cover all their music for a year at a time. The assumption is that when a radio station broadcasts music, it is available to anyone who can listen to that radio station.

    A "performance" can be thought of as whenever the music is played publicly - this means to anyone other than yourself. Generally speaking, public performances are very broadly construed under the law and are defined as performance “at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered.” This has been interpreted to mean that most performances at private clubs and organizations are “public” under the Copyright Law.

    Early versions of the copyright law limited the exclusive right to performances given “publicly for profit.” Today, however, the “for profit” limitation has been repealed and only an explicit list of exempt performances do not require a license from the copyright owner. These include performances by instructors or students in the course of face-to-face teaching activities of non-profit educational institutions, performances of music in the course of religious services at a place of worship, and performances by the public reception of a transmission on a single receiving apparatus like those commonly used in private homes when no charge is made to hear or see it and the performance is not further transmitted to the public. An example of this last exception would be a store that uses a typical home radio connected to two or three “home-style” speakers to provide radio programming to employees and customers. Some courts have held that the important factor in determining qualification for the exemption is the kind of radio equipment, i.e., “home-style,” rather than the size of the facility or the fact that the store is part of a large chain.

    The bottom line is that someone is already paying a licence fee for playing music to the employees and customers of Kwik-Fit (or the Newsagents): the radio station. Since Kwik-fit and the newsagent are not, as it were, redistributing (i.e. broadcasting the performance explicitly for commercial gain), they do not have to pay another licence.
     
  10. tacticus

    tacticus What's a Dremel?

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    /me attempts to import uk law
    It's much more sensible than the laws around here
     
  11. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    Actually, the above is UK and US law. I suspect that Australian law is pretty much the same.
     
  12. tacticus

    tacticus What's a Dremel?

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    If it is i have seen quite a few lawyers get it wrong because places commonly receive legal advice not to play the radio over phones or in stores without a license

    ARIA even has their own shakedowns, they cruise around every 6 or so months and hit all the stores that are not displaying the we license aria music sticker and then send out a whole collection of registered letters to anyone who is playing music or radio in the store even places playing CC or public domain music
     
  13. Ramble

    Ramble Ginger Nut

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    What the hell is a home-style radio?
     
  14. yodasarmpit

    yodasarmpit Modder

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    I wonder how this would effect where I work, we have a number of large screen TV's in our offices, often tuned into digital radio stations for the benefit of the office staff.
    The irony being, I work for BSkyB, I would love to see James Murdoch's face if they went after the actual broadcaster.
     
    Last edited: 5 Oct 2007
  15. cpemma

    cpemma Ecky thump

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    Erm...linky? My hairdresser was moaning about having to pay to have the portable radio playing in the salon.
    For radio, it's £63.37/annum (covers up to 30 seats) in her case. For QFit it's more complicated and there's a minimum sum;
     
  16. DougEdey

    DougEdey I pwn all your storage

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    What happens if I play my music and someone walking past hears it? Will I be fined?

    A bit drastic I know, but that's the way I see it happening
     
  17. E.E.L. Ambiense

    E.E.L. Ambiense Acrylic Heretic

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    A scratch-built one? :confused: lol
     
  18. specofdust

    specofdust Banned

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    Just one more reason the entire copyright/record industry setup needs to be utterly destroyed, and rebuilt from the ground up.
     
  19. DarkLord7854

    DarkLord7854 What's a Dremel?

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    Coulda sworn radio was free.. darn :p
     
  20. cpemma

    cpemma Ecky thump

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    The situation with Kwik-Fit is complicated by the fact that
    The PRS have obviously gone after Kwik-Fit to bring a test case and establish that "home-style" equipment rather than a commercial piped-music system makes no difference in law, and if your staff ignore your rules, you're still responsible for their actions.
     
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