[Dixielandjazz] ASCAP, BMI, etc.

[Ministry of Jazz]

But why "screwed", Will? So he owes them royalties for the one tune. Give
him a buck and throw the bum out. I hope he paid a cover charge.

Where did this music Gestapo come from, that the whole world shakes with
fear? What do they do for music? Nothing. They're just a self-serving bunch
of thugs running a protection racket. Instead of breaking our face, they
threaten to take us to court. What's the difference?

I never got involved with the musicians' union, but I understand it used to
be a similar situation, until enough people ignored them, and now they're
virtually irrelevant in most cities.

Over here we have to deal with terrorists too frequently. After awhile, you
learn that the first rule of dealing with terrorism is to not be afraid. If
one gives in to the fear, he gives the terrorist what he wants. Not meaning
to get political, but just drawing an analogy. How many current artists
don't get recorded, or get only limited opportunities to perform, because of
the terror tactics of the ASCAP/BMI thugs?

Why do we accept as a given these idiots' presumed right to terrorize
performers and venues? Why did my CD duplication people freeze when they
received my license from the music police, but with the album name and the
producer name mixed up? It was clear that it was the same disk. But they
wouldn't budge until they received the corrected license, even knowing I was
racing to meet a deadline, and I offered to pay in advance. Why? I had
already paid my fees. The error was with the music police. What right did
they have to cause me to miss my release deadline because of their clerical
error? Why weren't they afraid rather than the duplication people? This is
the same as dealing with the palestinians. It's always a 1-way street.

Surely some creative attorney, perhaps one who is also a musician, could
come up with some legal strategy to level the playing field a bit. I am not
opposed to protecting the rights of composers of original songs. Certainly
their work should not be freely available to be ripped off at will. But the
current situation has nothing to do any longer with protecting the artists,
but rather with ripping them off. Why should we stand for it?

If the BMI guy is sitting in a venue recording a performer without his
knowledge or permission, isn't that also against the law? Let's sock it to
'em.

Please pardon the rantings of a tired Israeli performer. But hey, there must
be something we can do to break the strangle-hold of these people on the
music world. It's nothing more than a pseudo-legal protection racket. Enough
is enough.

Cheers,

Elazar "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore" Brandt
Doctor Jazz Dixieland Band
Tekiya Brass Ensemble
Jerusalem, Israel
www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz
+972-2-679-2537


  -----Original Message-----
  From: will connelly [mailto:willconnelly at bellsouth.net]
  Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 12:36 AM
  To: jazzmin at actcom.net.il
  Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
  Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] ASCAP, BMI, etc.


  If the facts were as stated,  Elizar's right. But if the spy who visited
the venue taped ONE non original tune, the owner was screwed.
  Scott's also right about airplay being the basis for royalty distribution,
and statistical sampling kills OKOM.
  kindly
  will