[Dixielandjazz] The Grinches at Ascap go to Camp

Wed Apr 18 14:37:57 PDT 2007

Today is my birthday so let the tune cops come after us.

All together now -----

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Larry
Happy birthday to you
cha cha cha.

Larry
St. Louis

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 2:37 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] The Grinches at Ascap go to Camp

> List-Message-Recipient: larrys.bands at charter.net
> Just in case we think ASCAP started to go after the little people 
> recently,
> check this article from The Wall Street Journal 11 years ago. Note the 
> $5000
> penalty and 6 days in jail for willful violations.
>
> It is well to note that the below action by ASCAP created a furor in the
> media. Even Shaquille O Neal offored to pay the royalties for 10 years, as
> all sorts of outrage was made public. And BMI offered all its songs to the
> girl scouts free of charge.
>
> Net result? The grinch at ASCAP granted a temporary waiver to the Girls
> Scouts and others who sing songs, including Happy Birthday, around the
> campfire.
>
> Wonder if we poor OKOMers could generate some press outrage? Hey, maybe
> Kenny G or Woody Allen would offer to pay the royalties for small venues 
> who
> hire live OKOM bands? Or maybe we could get some Girl Scouts to attend our
> public performances? :-) VBG
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
> The Birds May Sing, But Campers Can't Unless They Pay Up
>
> By Lisa Bannon, The Wall Street Journal AUGIUST 23, 1996
>
> Something is missing at Diablo Day Camp in Lafayette, Calif., this year. 
> At
> the 3 p.m. sing-along in a wooded canyon near Oakland, 214 Girl Scouts are
> learning the summer dance craze, the Macarena. Keeping time by slapping
> their hands across their arms and hips, they jiggle, hop and stomp. They
> spin, wiggle and shake. They bounce for two minutes. In silence. 
> "Yesterday,
> I told them we could be sued if we played the music," explains Teesie 
> King,
> camp co-director and a volunteer mom. "So they decided they'd learn it
> without the music."
>
> Watching the campers' mute contortions, Mrs. King shakes her head. "It 
> seems
> so different," she allows, "when you do the Macarena in silence."
>
> Starting this summer, American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers
> has informed camps nationwide that they must pay license fees to use any 
> of
> the four million copyrighted songs written or published by Ascap's 68,000
> members. Those who sing or play but don't pay, Ascap warns, may be 
> violating
> the law.
>
> Like restaurants, hotels, bars, stores and clubs, which already pay fees 
> to
> use copyrighted music, camps -- including non-profit ones such as those 
> run
> by the Girl Scouts -- are being told to ante up. The demand covers not 
> only
> recorded music but also songs around the campfire.
>
> "They buy paper, twine and glue for their crafts -- they can pay for the
> music, too," says John Lo Frumento, Ascap's chief operating officer. If
> offenders keep singing without paying, he says, "we will sue them if
> necessary." No more "Edelweiss" free of charge. No more "This Land Is Your
> Land." An Ascap spokesman says "Kumbaya" isn't on its list, but "God Bless
> America" is.
>
> Diablo, an all-volunteer day camp that charges girls $44 a week to cover
> expenses, would owe Ascap $591 this year, based on the camp's size and how
> long it runs. Another composer group, Sesac Inc., which owns copyrights to
> such popular tunes as Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," says it plans to
> ask camps for another set of royalties this fall.
>
> So far, Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., the national organization based in New
> York, isn't playing along with royalty demands. But the American Camping
> Association, in Martinsville, Ind., which includes many Scout camps, 
> advises
> members to comply. Diablo's regional Girl Scout Council in Oakland is low 
> on
> cash and decided its 20 area camps can't afford the extra expense. Rather
> than risk a lawsuit, the council told all the camps to scratch copyrighted
> songs from their programs even though only a few received warning letters.
>
> "At first I thought, 'You guys have got to be kidding,"' says Sharon 
> Kosch,
> the council's director of program services. "They can't sing the songs? 
> But
> it's pretty threatening. We were told the penalty can be $5,000 and six 
> days
> in jail."
>
> So, the camp's directors have scrutinized its official "Elf Manual" and, 
> in
> the section headed "Favorite Songs at Diablo Day Camp," have crossed out 
> the
> most popular copyrighted tunes with black Magic Marker. The Scouts know
> about only a few of the banned songs because Ascap hasn't mailed out a
> complete list; it comprises four million songs and runs 70,000 pages. 
> Ascap
> says it has, however, put a list on the Internet.
>
> After finishing off hot dogs and s'mores for lunch, the Elves -- senior
> Scouts charged with helping younger campers -- gather in a circle with
> directors to decide what they can sing. "Is 'Row Row Row Your Boat'
> copyrighted?" asks Holly Foster, a 14-year-old Elf with a turquoise happy
> face on her cheek. "Row Row Row Your Boat" may float, the directors 
> decide,
> but "Puff the Magic Dragon" definitely is out. "How about 'Ring Around the
> Rosie'?" another Elf asks. The directors veto it.
>
> "We wanted to sing 'Underwear,' but it's set to the tune of 'Battle Hymn 
> of
> the Republic,"' says Mrs. King, the co-director. "We're not sure if that's
> copyrighted; so, we don't sing it." "When in doubt, don't sing," advises
> Site Director Leslie Shanders.
>
> Even harder than figuring out which songs are which, directors say, is
> explaining it all to young Brownies. "They think copyright means the 'mean
> people,' " says Debby Cwalina, a 14-year-old Elf. Mr. Holly explains it to
> them this way: "The people who wrote it have a thing on it. A little 'c'
> with circles around it. There's an alarm on it. And if you sing it, BOOM!"
> That explanation doesn't always sink in. Alissa Fiset, age 8, crinkles her
> nose when asked why she can't sing "Puff the Magic Dragon." While 
> squirting
> a friend with a water bottle, she says: "They did a rewrite on it. A copy
> thing. But why can't they just take the 'c' away?"
>
> Ascap, which is based in New York, defends the royalties. "Songwriters are
> small-business people who write songs to make a living," Mr. Lo Frumento
> says. "The royalties allow them to send their kids to Girl Scout camp, 
> too."
> The federal copyright act allows composers and music publishers to demand
> royalty payments for any public performance of copyrighted material. The 
> law
> defines a public performance as "where a substantial number of persons
> outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is
> gathered." Although the law has been on the books since 1909, Ascap began
> notifying large music users, such as hotels, only a little over a decade 
> ago
> and more recently has worked its way down to small users, such as rodeos 
> and
> funeral homes. This year, it negotiated a reduced annual fee of $257 with
> camps enrolled in the American Camping Association. For camps, such as
> Diablo, that aren't association members, the fees are higher, ranging from
> $308 to $1,439 a year. Small camps that last two weeks or less get a 
> special
> rate of $77.
>
> Penalties for noncompliance can be stiff. The law sets fines up to $25,000
> or a year in prison, or both, for major infringements. Ascap, which sends
> monitors around the country, has successfully sued restaurants, retailers
> and private clubs, Mr. Lo Frumento says. While the law hasn't been tested 
> on
> camps, copyright attorneys say even little girls would lose.
>
> "If you make an exception for the Girl Scouts, you could set a practical
> precedent," says Russell Frackman, a Los Angeles copyright lawyer. "You 
> give
> the impression that a particular use is not an infringement, and that can 
> be
> used against you in the future."
>
> Ascap contends that its members have contributed heavily to the Scouts 
> over
> the years. In 1940, Irving Berlin donated all future royalties from his 
> "God
> Bless America" to the New York City Boy Scout and Girl Scout councils.
> Although the Scouts still get royalties from it, Mr. Lo Frumento concedes
> that, nevertheless, they can't sing it without paying the fee. So, it's 
> back
> to black Magic Markers.
>
> After finishing the Macarena at the Diablo sing-along, one mother whispers
> that today is the sixth birthday of David Warneke, a camp volunteer's son.
> "We're not allowed to sing 'Happy Birthday,' " warns Debi Jansen, a
> co-director. Huddling with the Elves, the directors come up with a plan:
> Sing a modified "Happy Birthday" to the tune of "Ninety-Nine Bottles of 
> Beer
> on the Wall." But Mrs. Jansen is worried. "I hope that's not copyrighted,
> too," she frets.
>
>
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