When the music is no longer free...

What will you do when the new laws about rinternet radio stations go into effect? From what I've been able to gather, every radio station will have to pay 500 US dollars per stream or something, essentially ending the way we listen to music on the web and in SL.

Just wondering what you will do when this happens?

IMO, Its parallel to casinos in SL. It will be up to the individual to decide whether they are skirting the law.

I believe that a great many will get their own streaming capabilities, such as I have done, now I can stream anything I can play on winamp, including my playlists.
So it's impossible to vote for any of the choices in the poll.

Thisis a United States only change. Just stream from a server based in Europe or Canada.

I might be wrong (cant find the answer) but from what I've been told you would still have to pay the fee even if you stream from your own PC.

so if I am a dj in the usa I just route my stream though a non-US server? that sounds a little too easy...

No one wants to mess with the little guy. I don't think it would be a problem unless you became hugely popular with your stream.

I think Najmah's got the right idea. All the technology at our fingertips really gives power to the people.

Stream away!

america is not the world. get a server some place else.

F*** the RIAA

and if your DJing its Fair use if you own the music PERIOD, if you are running a "web Radio station" you will get caught.

If you are A DJ or a Live Musician how do they know the difference??? how do they know what I am streaming to a sim? they Have no idea, if I am not public, and by god SL isn't Public. what if I'm just talking over the mic for 8 hours ? they dont know what Im doing unless I am advertised in 1. the shoutcast YP or 2. all over the web.

And My shoutcast server is from my box to a relay server all un advertised there is not going to be the man looking for 500$ walking around SL or sniffing my computers ports.

This "law" ha ! is to shut down the small timers like Twister and Phreak, and up to the web stations in the US that are giving the corporate owned a run for there advertising dollar has nothing to do with a DJ.

EDITED* as these are based on radio a shoutcast is not radio. this law is so wacked where was this you posted before that I cant play my bands music? with out paying ??? or all the music at DMusic.com that is free for my use as the bands and artist want me to play them? there is none so if anyone is afraid of the big bad RIAA and CAA use non RIAA music that is better than the crap that the major record companies try to spoon feed us anyway my humps my humps my god this song sucks. '
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/

so an american can stream american corporate music over the internet via a server that is hosted in Portugal and this new law is not in effect? can anyone recommend one of these non-usa servers?

DAZ if you are not a radio station advertised you can stream what you want.

you have not researched this law enough.

a DJ is not a radio station streamed or not, its a dj this law says nothing of DJs or people streeming over a lan like in a collage dorm or office.

just do not list in the shoutcast Directory un tic the box that says public.

I can't find a plain and simple answer and no one seems to be able to write it down or send a link to somewhere where it is written without prejudice, and I've been looking and asking for an answer for over 24 hrs now.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on what this law says and how it will effect them but no one can back up what they say with a link to anything specific.

And one more comment for those afraid of playing a streem that is up and running say xrm.com radio (great alternative /rock station) and seting that url to your land, they are paying the fees not you I hope everyone understands that.

I look at SL and my property in SL as my house, I can play the radio or my music collection as I see fit, it has been paid for.


when in RL I DJ in a club or wedding hall, the owner of that has paid the fees (or not as most don't) its on them.

thats because the law is made to be so full of red tape they hope to stifle anyone, As a dj bith RL , SL and podcast, ans shoutcast before SL. I have never paid a fee. EVER! so thats my take on it there has always been a licensing fee if you were broadcasting to the public. the gray line is is SL public is your land or the club your in public? I say no as the owner can ban boot whoever they want.

if you are really afraid of it you can go the live 365 route and whats cool with that is your monthly fee covers the licensing as well you can have pre recorded play when you are not live.

Distilled is right on the law and the red tape. Music industry is trying to cut in because no one wants to buy their crap in this day and age of technology and they haven't kept up.

This is just like the US Post Office trying to pass a law a few years back to tax every e-mail sent because e-mails have cut down how much snailmail is sent out, thereby reducing income from stamps. DUH!!! Make a better mousetrap or become extint.

The music industry is moving quickly to a time when they WILL be extint. How close are we to just going online for new bands and music? ....oh wait....we're already there and that's what they are crying about. Because we, the little people, can do everythign without them *smirks* They just want back the piece of the pie they lost, even though they aren't doing anythign to EARN it anymore.

~Jessy

Jessica gets it /me nods

its all about the RIAA losing their butts, the major labels laughed at the digital world and when they tried to hop on the train and do it with DRM and other forms of protection the consumer shunned them, as they should they sued the people who were their customers.


I am seeing if I can find a easy to read version of the law, but I don't think there is one, again like I said as a DJ its diffrent and to think that there would be any recourse taken on on in second life is like believing I won the 129 million$ lottery last night ...maybe I should check my ticket lol

Ask yourself a simple question. Is it a "public performance"?

Yes == not legal without paying fees.

No == no fee required.

I.e. streaming to a open club on SL where anyone can come in and hear the music without being invited == public performance. Even worse if it is say a casino or a mall where you are making money. That is 100% illeagal without paying royalties.

Streaming to a private sim or parcel with an access list of only your friends == private performance like you were at home playing music for a party.

However, a lot of this IS grey area plain and simple. It' hard to nail down the ifs because, well it's not been tested in court, and until it has, you can't know for sure. (Except the case of streaming music to a place of buisness, even in SL that is going to really be on the "no" side of things)

Edit: Just to be clear, the reason it is so much a "no" is that it is considered that you are using "their" music to promote, build, "decorate" (whatever) a money making operation and that is really a major bee in thir bonnet.

imo, the SL Grid is a private area. Playing music here is playing it for our friends and family. Within SL, this IS a private domain, available only to it's patrons.

I stick with my statement the RIAA just wants paid for things they don't do because they are lazy and scared since they no longer serve a purpose other than to leech off of their former customers. Customers who left them and now work agaisnt them due to their greed.

They may cry, they may whine, they may even get this law passed. In the US. Not going to do a dang thing when people can rent servers outside the US to stream from. Seriously, the RIAA needs to grow up and either join the tech age and offer people something or just die out like the useless facet that they've become.

~Jessy

These rates apply to all transmissions made to US residents - regardless of from where they originate. Obviously, for a real foreign webcaster with no US contacts, there might be jurisdictional issues about trying to collect those royalties (though SoundExchange is working on reciprocal collection agreements with collection agencies in other countries). For a US webcaster who simply puts their servers off shore but then continues to program from the US there wouldn't be such jurisdictional issues.

The US Courts of Appeals have consistently ruled that the country where the infringement is completed rather than where it is initiated, has jurisdiction over the infringement.

We have a similar recording industry organization in Germany called GEMA. A law like the one being discussed here is already in place. Whoever uses background music in commercial areas, be it a shopping mall or a bar, has to pay a fee - I don't see any problem as long as private persons don't have to pay for music played on a party.

I mean, how else would you handle this? Pay royalties to each individual artist whose songs you play? Would be quite a chaos. I know that the GEMA, or the RIAA in case of the USA, fails to share the royalties they earn among their artists, but that's another problem. Something the artists need to fight out with the GEMA / RIAA.

oooOOoooo,, What you Said!!!
Don't let G.W. Hear you say that (Given the state of things, it's probably too late).

Anyway, This is true, There are plenty of URLs Not effected by the Recent U.S. Conditions, and Free Music on the net is Not at an end.

Angel.

Bit confused about all this.

On one hand, presumably it's the responsibility of the stream owner - if based in the US, to deal with applicable licensing laws.

However, as a property owner, are you considered a "broadcaster" and, as SL is covered 'under the laws of California', are you then liable for paying fees if you play a stream on your land?

It's all very worrying.

Broccoli

so basicly since we still can't nail what exactly what this law is going to do if passed, the safe bet is to get non-US dj's or US djs who can proove their music isn't streaming from a us server right?

If we set the media URL on our parcel WE DO NOT BROADCAST ANYTHING.

We are merely pointing to a stream we think is worth listening to.

It is just like putting the URL of you favorite stream in your weblog.

Meh, who wants to use canned music? So some corporate entity wants to screw people over for webcasting recorded music they have jurisdiction over? Well, screw 'em... we don't want their mouldy old crud. We can make our own music. It's not that hard and there's plenty of people playing their own music over the internet. I do live webcast shows of my own music as well as hosting a radio station which broadcasts my own recordings 24/7. And if I can do it, anyone can. Heck, even DJ's can create all the original content they need using tools like Traktor and a few software samplers.