[Dixielandjazz] Regarding BMI...FROM JOHN SOULIS

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Yep He is absolutely correct:

They are and have destroyed and closed more establishments than 
anything else in this country.
Not only that they are set up like a Ponzi scheme with almost all the 
revenue still flowing back to the starting and controlling members of 
the organization + all their out of control expenses and legal fees  to 
keep bullying all the little guy into either submission or going out of 
 the business or presenting or eve allowing Live music.

Like the Unions of yesterday they have long outlived their actual 
usefulness and have become totally corrupt in the name  of Protecting 
the poor songwriter who has been dead for forty or fifty years, and the 
rights sold off for pennies on the dollar.  But not unlike other 
opinion in our society if you speak out against them you are labels a 
TRAITOR and it is quickly seconded by that one in a million token guy 
who actually gets a $12.00 to $100.00 check form them once a year or 
less.  He proudly touts it and brags about getting royalty checks to 
all his buddies who swallow the bait and sing up for the next 
generation of swindles.   Ever notice the music behind television and 
radio commercials folks and how it is almost always a recognizable 
popular song of days gone by.  Why because the culprits own the 
publishing rights to the song and just keep on recycling it for more 
royalties that they do not pass down to the original songwriters or 
their estates.

It is safer to walk barefooted through a Rattlesnake or Cobra farm than 
to try and do business with those snakes.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins

-----Original Message-----
From: cellblk7 at comcast.net
To: Tcashwigg at aol.com
Cc: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Thu, 5 Apr 2007 4:03 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Regarding BMI...FROM JOHN SOULIS

   >From my t-bone playing friend, John Soulis...

Warm regards,
Bob Romans,
1617 Lakeshore Dr.,
Lodi, Calif. 95242
Ph 209-747-1148
www.cellblockseven2002.net
----- Original Message -----
From: John and Sharon
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2007 3:54 PM
Subject: Regarding BMI...FROM JOHN SOULIS


Hello All,

FYI or use, thought you might like to know my thoughts on a subject 
that seems
to be adversely affecting our music AND our listeners.

Salud, John Soulis
Recently, I have learned first hand about how Broadcast Music Inc. 
(BMI) is
affecting our music...Traditional Jazz. Before justifying my concerns, 
let me
give you a brief understanding of what are the intensions of these 
licensing
companies. The following is an explanation of how these companies 
function:

1. Performing rights organization enforce copy write laws. The United 
States
Constitution gives Congress the power to grant patents and copy writes.

2. Basically, any performance "at a place open to the public or at any 
place
where substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a 
family", is
considered public under copy write law.

3. There are three(3) licensing entities acting under federal consent: 
American
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), BMI and SESAXC ( 
a
for-profit corporation). They issue licenses to companies that provide
entertainment/music in public places. The key is these 
establishments/companies
provide music with the purpose to make a profit.

4. For protection under copy write laws, the work (song) must have 
three (3)
components, 1.-a sign of copy write, 2.-the year of publication and, 
3.-the name
of the author.

5. Who is responsible for obtaining the "entertainment license"? 
Performing
rights organizations are seeking out proprietors of halls, eating 
establishments
and any venues providing "public music".

6. What happens if you don't get a license? Failure to procure a 
license is a
copy write infringement. The infringer is subject to a civil suit in 
federal
court. This is the big threat these performing rights organizations 
hang over
the owners of these entertainment establishments. They will tell the 
owners to
"pay the fee of $1,500 or go to court" and pay $150,000. 00 for willful 
copy
write infringement. As an owner, what would you do? Pay the $1,500 or 
get out of
the entertainment business. The latter was the action taken by many 
owners.

On the flip side of this dilemma, there are alternatives to getting a 
license
 from any of the three(3) protection organizations. Highlighted below 
are methods
in which a performer wouldn't need a license:

1. Proprietors can negotiate with individual owners of copy write 
(don't think
this is very feasible).

2. Perform music which has no copy write or the copy write has run out.

3. Performances at charitable functions are exempt.as long as no one 
gets paid
(no direct or indirect admission or charges).

4. Performances by teachers or students during face-to-face teaching 
activities.

5. Performing music via a non-profit education based organization would 
justify
exemption as-long-as the primary goal is to teach young people 
Dixieland Jazz.

As musicians, our interpretation of classic traditional jazz seems to 
be at the
heart of this stalemate and these protection organizations should be 
reminded of
the following:

1. This music is based on a improvisation, which means the musicians 
are not
reading note-for-note.

2. How many of the musicians have learned their music by listening to 
the old
recordings? We've developed a "style" of our own from that experience. 
We cannot
clear our brain of this musical education. Therefore, we and the 
proprietors are
actually outside the parameters of these copy write laws.

My concern centers around the continuation and longevity of Traditional 
Jazz. We
are constantly observing smaller numbers attending Jazz Festivals and 
other Jazz
venues. Many bands play for the love-of-the-music, a meal and what now 
becomes
gas change to get to and from the gig. If we do not keep this music 
available
for people to hear and remember, we end up with another factor creating 
the
demise of our music.

I believe these performing licensing companies need to re-evaluate 
where their
priorities lie.

If we don't play the music they will not be able to collect the 
licensing fees
from the proprietors..seems this is a no-win situation.

Possibly, they could consider making America's original music the 
exception to
all the copy write laws. Traditional jazz is so much of our history it 
would be
a good move on their part to hold-off for a while until traditional 
jazz makes a
come back. Maybe bands could do one to two free concerts per year and 
donate
funds to non-profit educational organizations.

It is very interesting to note in all the information I studied I never 
found
where these fees end up. Do they all go for overhead? Seems strange if 
ASCAP and
BMI are supposed to be non-profit.how can they be making any money? Do 
these
fees go to the heirs of the composers? This I doubt, as these 
organizations have
bought many copy writes. It'd be interesting to see how much each heir 
would
receive...seems the multiplicity of the effort would negate any profit! 
Isn't it
true that non-profits are supposed to help each other financially? In 
reality,
these performing rights organizations seem to use legal pressure to 
achieve a
source of income which destroys the very entity they presume to support!
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