[Dixielandjazz] USA Copyright Law + ASCAP and BMI

[david richoux]

Don't leave us on tenterhooks!

What was BMI.s response?

Dave RIchoux

On Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 3:57 PM,  <alevy at alevy.com> wrote:
> My two cents. A few issues.
> >From 1950 through 1955 I was a member of the
> copyright committee of the American Association
> of Music Arrangers.
> We lobbied congress to make arrangers privy
> to royalties as co-composers. We never got to first base.
> Recording companies, Hollywood and Broadway pay the
> arrangers for the job. There were a few exceptions, and
> that only happened sometimes, with advertising agencies.
> While "ghost writing" for Dean Kincaid I wrote the music
> for Colgate, General Motors and other notable companies.
> Flat Fee + no credit. That was okay by me, the pay was
> very good.
> Some arrangers got around the copyright law by re-naming
> tunes and copyrighting them. For example "Swanee River"
> is Sy Oliver's copyright as a work on a work. The original
> of course (out of copyright) was "Old Folks At Home".
> Tommy Dorsey's company "Embassy Music" published the
> Sy Oliver tune.
> Next:
> In 1993 I represented my computer club at the Javitts Center
> in New York City. I was so en-raptured by my new toys,
> Voyetra Gold - music sequencer and Finale notation software
> I decide to bring all of my computer gear and play midi files
> at the computer expo. I called the A.S.C.A.P. office and applied
> for a restricted license. For $100.00 (I think) I could play their
> music at 5 or 7 different shows within a year. A similar deal
> was offered at B.M.I. and I applied for that license also.
> When they found out that I intended exhibiting at a major expo
> which charged visitors $50 to $150 a day I was turned down.
> The reason: Both organizations wanted to charge the show
> promoters a percentage of the gate! The show was sold out
> every day to a crowd of perhaps 5,000 attendees each day,
> for five days.
> While I was handing out newsletters and other flyers promoting
> the club, I had the computer playing p.d. tunes (midi files) in juke
> box mode.
> After a while I walked around the three floors of exhibitors and
> noticed that game producers were playing tunes such as the
> Star Wars Theme or other known music along with their videos.
> >From that point on I decided to "change my tune", pun intended,
> and play all the song that I had stored on my hard drive.
> I gave demos on how to sequence and/or notate music with
> software. I loved every minute of the show. No officials from
> A.S.C.A.P. nor B.M.I. showed! I am a member of B.M.I.
> A week or so later I fired off a letter to both organizations.
> In the letter I told them what I did and added that in their
> stupidity the organization lost, the composers lost and since
> I was a member, so did I. Their response follows:
>
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