Streaming

[cahokia]

Is it legal to stream out of town radio stations in a restaurant to customers all day? just curious.

[V.Riley]

If the radio station is playing music that is copyrighted, then the restaurant should be paying royalties on the music that is played to it's patrons.

[The Dude]

Thats totally obsurd!!

How about OVER THE AIR stations playing music to people in thier car,home?

[V.Riley]

Thats totally obsurd!!

How about OVER THE AIR stations playing music to people in thier car,home?

I agree, but I don't make the rules, nor do I enforce them. 

For instance, to cover a SESAC artists, it would be covered under the General License which includes but not limited to the following establishments:

Amusement Park, Arena, Auditorium, Bowling Center, College & University, Concert Promoter, Convention Center, Country Club, Dance Studio, Festival, Health & Fitness Center, Hotel, Music In Business, Nightclub, Racetrack, Resort, Restaurant, Retail Store, Shopping Mall, Sports Bar, Stadium, Tavern, Theme Park, Water Park, Web Site

You can read about SESAC licenses at http://sesac.com/licensing/obtain_a_license.aspx

[Nick]

It's as legal as playing a local radio station. Unless you're in a major city, do you think that people will care that it's technically illegal to do so? The out of station is paying two royalties for each song.

[Neel Mehta]

Related question....

Since our store/pharmacy in Rancho Cucamonga can only pick up a couple stations on the radio, I recently started streaming stations in the store. I noticed that some stations completely blackout commercials like KATY-FM while Jill-FM plays them on the webcast. I know there's some legal rule about playing commericals, but do most stations blackout their adverstisements online? I need to find stations that don't since it's a little akward when the radio stops all of a sudden in the store. I'm new to webcasting so I'm not sure of this.

[Pat Cook]

Hi everyone:

It's as legal as playing a local radio station. Unless you're in a major city, do you think that people will care that it's technically illegal to do so? The out of station is paying two royalties for each song.

You are OBVIOUSLY a complete n00b to life on the Internet.

How long are you willing to hold your breath before the Video Professor comes out with a "How To" lesson on Internet Radio??

[unpwn]

@Neel:
Radio stations consider streaming and terrestrial two different stations when it comes to ads. If you're an advertiser, you pay different prices for air or internet. If you hear a commercial on the station, and the same one on their stream, it's because the advertiser paid for it. Stations who "black out" commercials online are doing so because nobody has purchased spots on the stream.

@main topic:
You can stream in a store. As long as you don't benefit in any way from the station being played, then you're good. Plus, most internet stations welcome the "free advertisement" of their station.
And even if someone DID have a problem with you airing their station, the first thing you'd get would be a Cease and Desist...big deal.

[wilson1000]

Yes, You can stream in a store..NOT over the air signal in the store. Royalities are being paid for the streamed music. Also, another way to get around that is to have the speakers located in manner where the music is technically for the workers in the back, but loud enough for the customers to hear. Can't deny your employees certain freedoms.

[H82BL8]

cahokia,

My understanding is that if the store is under 3,700 square feet in size then royalty payments are not required. You may want to check into that a little more. I am not positive about the exact square footage size that is royalty exempt.