Quote:
Originally Posted by Moejoe
And everybody who has ever watched a DVD with more than one other person is also breaking the law. That's a public performance you criminals!! An unauthorised exhibition!!
[SNIP]
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Actually, that
particular issue has been through the courts in the U.S., back when VCRs and video tapes were new. Having some friends over to your house to watch a movie
does not constitute a public performance. Not even when you take up a collection to cover the cost of renting the (then) very expensive VCR and television with a composite-video-in jack (rather than the then-usual connect-up-to-the-antenna-and-tune-to-channel-3 approach).
But outside your home, or if you advertise to strangers, or if you do it to make a profit, or a bunch of other things I don't remember... then you are straying in the direction of a public performance. And public performances require licensing (and maybe payment, depending on license terms).
Similarly, singing "Happy Birthday" with your friends and family for friends/family does not constitute a public performance. Even if you are in a bar or restaurant at the time. On the other hand, if the restaurant's staff (waiters, musicians, whatever) sing that very same song, it becomes a public performance that you are paying for (with some fraction of your final bill).
In between cases have been in the courts much more recently. ASCAP and BMI recently granted a royalty-free license to (at least) the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of America for round-the-campfire use of whatever songs they like. The issue was in court, and press gave ASCAP and BMI such a black eye that they decided it was better to grant the license than to look like jack-booted thugs. Not to mention the risk that they might lose, and set another fair-use precedent.
Xenophon
(As usual: I am not a lawyer, and this is NOT legal advice! If you require legal advice on which you may rely, consult a real lawyer rather than some guy on the Internet.)