[Dixielandjazz] BMI or ASCAP AGAIN

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Hi Folks:

 This is Long but well worth the Read.

I have been spouting off about these guys for years and most musicians 
just don't listen or believe it, well here is some of the proof about 
it.   To go along with their partners at the MAJOR Record Labels who 
are also just as guilty of ripping off artists royalties.   And you 
wonder why it is so difficult to make a living in this business.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins




RE:BMI or ASCAP? - decide for yourself after reading this!

http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200506/1118008594.html

Originally released 6-6-05 and then removed (ERASED)from PRweb after 
they recieved a call from ASCAP's legal dept. We (the AF&M, Our 
Attorneys, Our Management) still haven't heard from ASCAP...to this 
day! So make your own decision after reading our story on our website!

http://www.stiffffkitties.com

The Stiffff Kitties Creator, Diane D. Meinke Takes ASCAP To Task

ASCAP Stiffff's the Stiffff Kitties! ?How can this be; an Air/Promo 
Platinum Record and no performance royalties????

June 6, 2005 -- Following IceFire's International Record?s Announcement 
and Presentation of an Air Platinum to Diane D Meinke, the creator of 
the STIFFFF KITTIES for debut CD entitled "Mya's Book of the Dead", Ms. 
Meinke received her ASCAP statement. The mood went from happiness and 
celebration, to tears and anger in no time flat.

Diane D. Meinke, also known as Sera de Morte,' is an American 
Federation of Musicians union member, six-time 2003 Grammy nominee, and 
recipient of an Air Platinum Record Award, plus several other awards 
has begun a relentless mission to expose ASCAP's questionable business 
practices to her fans, friends, and business associates worldwide.

Diane Meinke became a member of ASCAP at age 16, but when the fire 
fight started with ASCAP in 2003 over unpaid royalties for her first 
successfully worldwide charting album entitled Sera de Morte' "Witches 
Dance," "surprisingly" ASCAP couldn't locate her membership.

Feeling the crunch of the corporate monster that ASCAP is, Meinke had 
no choice but to rejoin and update her membership with ASCAP. Read this 
article written by guitarist Harvey Reid:

"ASCAP & BMI -- Protectors of Artists or Shadowy Thieves?"
http://www.woodpecker.com/writing/essays/royalty-politics.html

This is a paragraph which is copy and pasted from that article. We 
recommend that you follow the link above and read it in it's entirety. 
It's frightening how deep it goes.

"ASCAP has teams of lawyers who do nothing else and who are extremely 
well-versed in the technicalities of the law, and a tavern owner and a 
small-town lawyer have essentially no chance of winning a lawsuit. 
Legal right to do this has been established over a series of court 
rulings and legal precedents, and so far no one has been able to win a 
lawsuit against ASCAP for infringement of copyright by "public 
performance." Apparently ASCAP has the judicial system in their back 
pocket, and even organizations as large as CBS have lost lawsuits 
against them. To quote an ASCAP pamphlet: "ASCAP infringement cases are 
'open-and-shut'; for all practical purposes there is no defense to 
them."

Margaret Spoddig a representative from ASCAP was asked by an AF&M 
representative to research Diane's claims of unpaid airplay. Ms 
Spoddig, representative of ASCAP, then sent Meinke on a "dodge and duck 
goose chase" for nearly two years. They were probably hoping she would 
get tired of the run around and go away. Not likely.

In the meantime Diane continued accumulating more and more airplay 
worldwide on several other album projects.

Meinke's Air Platinum award which was presented to her in March 2005 by 
ICEFIRE Records International for her debut Stiffff Kitties CD entitled 
"Mya's Book of the Dead" came in well after the dispute with ASCAP 
started, but is now proof positive that her music had and is still 
getting hard airplay worldwide. Several weeks after receiving her 
plaque, ASCAP's royalty statement for Meinke came in. To Meinke?s shock 
the statement reflected zero surveyed performances.

Visit the Stiffff Kitties Website below and view both the Award and 
ASCAP's statement reflecting ASCAP's claimed "Zero" surveyed 
performances.
http://www.stiffffkitties.com

Diane Meinke has yet to receive anything from her performance rights 
organization (ASCAP) for any of her songs, which has been utilized by 
programmers and music buyers worldwide since 2002. Money has exchanged 
hands, but Meinke has yet to benefit one penny from it all.

Diane now has 26 of her songs charting and working worldwide, and she 
has no intentions of stopping there. She will continue to write and 
release new material. Diane is in the perfect position to take ASCAP to 
task on behalf of the many artist/songwriters used by ASCAP catalog to 
extort money out of venues.

Read this article and see from a club owner?s point of view just how 
ruthless ASCAP can be. This guy was violated and sued by ASCAP to the 
point of completely removing music from his venue.
"The sounds of silence in Bernal Heights--Tavern owner ends live music 
after ASCAP suits"
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/12/03/BUGL13CH5H26.DTL

Meinke has made it clear that she is not only fighting for her rights, 
but for the rights that have been violated by these organizations for 
the many other artists they have not paid and the venues they have 
extorted from.

Meinke said, "Now you tell me if someone owed anyone several thousand 
to several million, would they just lie down, give up, and walk away? 
Not on your life! This is our creativity; this is our soul that they 
are stealing from. They did not write these songs, they did not record 
them, they do not own them, they do not perform them, but yet like 
leeches then feed off of us (the songwriters and publishers) to make 
themselves fat, greedy, and disgusting.

"We need to make people aware, knowledge is power. Family, fans, 
friends and just everyday people who love music help us save the music 
and the artists by voicing your opinion. Send an email to ASCAP, and 
send it attention Margaret Spoddig, and let them know that you now know 
the truth."

Here is the email address to send it to:
info at ascap.com

Contact:
Underground Visions
info at undergroundvisionsinc.com

June 6, 2005 -- Following IceFire's International Record?s Announcement 
and Presentation of an Air Platinum to Diane D Meinke, the creator of 
the STIFFFF KITTIES for debut CD entitled "Mya's Book of the Dead", Ms. 
Meinke received her ASCAP statement. The mood went from happiness and 
celebration, to tears and anger in no time flat.

Diane D. Meinke, also known as Sera de Morte,'is an American Federation 
of Musicians union member (in good standing), a SIX-time 2003 Grammy 
nominee, a recipient of an Air Platinum Record Award, (plus several 
other awards) has begun a relentless mission to expose ASCAP's dirty 
business practices to her fans, friends, and business associates 
worldwide.

Diane Meinke became a member of ASCAP at age 16, but when the fire 
fight started with ASCAP in 2003 over unpaid royalties for her first 
successfully worldwide charting album entitled Sera de Morte' "Witches 
Dance," "surprisingly" ASCAP couldn't locate her membership.

Feeling the crunch of the corporate monster that ASCAP is, Meinke had 
no choice but to rejoin and update her membership with ASCAP. Read this 
article written by guitarist Harvey Reid:

<A 
HREF="http://www.woodpecker.com/writing/essays/royalty-politics.html/">"ASCAP 
& BMI -- Protectors of Artists or Shadowy Thieves?"</A>

This is a paragraph which is copy and pasted from that article. We 
recommend that you follow the link above and read it in it's entirety. 
It's frightening how deep it goes.

"ASCAP has teams of lawyers who do nothing else and who are extremely 
well-versed in the technicalities of the law, and a tavern owner and a 
small-town lawyer have essentially no chance of winning a lawsuit. 
Legal right to do this has been established over a series of court 
rulings and legal precedents, and so far no one has been able to win a 
lawsuit against ASCAP for infringement of copyright by "public 
performance." Apparently ASCAP has the judicial system in their back 
pocket, and even organizations as large as CBS have lost lawsuits 
against them. To quote an ASCAP pamphlet: "ASCAP infringement cases are 
'open-and-shut'; for all practical purposes there is no defense to 
them."

Margaret Spoddig a representative from ASCAP was asked by an AF&M 
representative to research Diane's claims of unpaid airplay. Ms 
Spoddig, representative of ASCAP, then sent Meinke on a "dodge and duck 
goose chase" for nearly two years. They were probably hoping she would 
get tired of the run around and go away. Not likely.

In the meantime Diane continued accumulating more and more airplay 
worldwide on several other album projects.

Meinke's Air Platinum award which was presented to her in March 2005 by 
ICEFIRE Records International for her debut Stiffff Kitties CD entitled 
"Mya's Book of the Dead" came in well after the dispute with ASCAP 
started, but is now proof positive that her music had and is still 
getting hard airplay worldwide. Several weeks after receiving her 
plaque, ASCAP's royalty statement for Meinke came in. To Meinke?s shock 
the statement reflected zero surveyed performances.

Visit the Stiffff Kitties Website below and view both the Award and 
ASCAP's statement reflecting ASCAP's claimed "Zero" surveyed 
performances.<A HREF="http://www.stiffffkitties.com/ASCAP.htm">"Proof 
positive of ASCAP's shady thievery available for all the world to 
see!"</A>

<A 
HREF="http://www.stiffffkitties.com/ASCAP.htm">"http://http://www.stiffffkitties.com"</A>

Diane Meinke has yet to receive anything from her performance rights 
organization (ASCAP) for any of her songs, which has been utilized by 
programmers and music buyers worldwide since 2002. Money has exchanged 
hands, but Meinke has yet to benefit one penny from it all.

Diane now has 26 of her songs charting and working worldwide, and she 
has no intentions of stopping there. She will continue to write and 
release new material. Diane is in the perfect position to take ASCAP to 
task on behalf of the many artist/songwriters used by ASCAP catalog to 
extort money out of venues.

Read this article and see from a club owner?s point of view just how 
ruthless ASCAP can be. This guy was violated and sued by ASCAP to the 
point of completely removing music from his venue.

<A 
HREF="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/12/03/BUGL13CH5H26.DTL 
">"The sounds of silence in Bernal Heights--Tavern owner ends live 
music after ASCAP suits"</A>

Meinke has made it clear that she is not only fighting for her rights, 
but for the rights that have been violated by these organizations for 
the many other artists they have not paid and the venues they have 
extorted from.

Meinke said, "Now you tell me if someone owed anyone several thousand 
to several million, would they just lie down, give up, and walk away? 
Not on your life! This is our creativity; this is our soul that they 
are stealing from. They did not write these songs, they did not record 
them, they do not own them, they do not perform them, but yet like 
leeches then feed off of us (the songwriters and publishers) to make 
themselves fat, greedy, and disgusting.

"We need to make people aware, knowledge is power. Family, fans, 
friends and just everyday people who love music help us save the music 
and the artists by voicing your opinion.

That's right...they are all cut from the same mold.

PRO's...

1) Get artists/songwriters & publishers to join to help fluff out their 
over 90% never will be paid catalog.
2) Keep them & the public uneducated as to what their real purpose is.
3) strong arm & extort from venues or sue them into oblivian.
4) Steal from the "POOR" to fatten the already "RICH"

The old Robinhood story...only this one has "REAL" dead bodies...and 
horror stories beyond your imagination. If you are getting paid...then 
you must be one of the very few in their pittance clique. Just remember 
when you cash that check...there are millions that are not getting 
paid. Like...

-Hank Garland, the real songwriter of "Jingle Bell Rock" died pennyless 
& never got paid any royalties. Hank was shot at & run off the road,  
left for dead...after he started his pursuit for the truth & why he 
wasn't getting paid any royalties.