[rab777hp]

No more iPods! You silly iPod users shouldn't be listening to music in public places!

[alansky]

This has got to be one of the most absurd claims I have ever heard. Greed and stupidity know no bounds!

[reallycrazy]

Well, they're already making garages pay these fee's for the 'public performance' of playing the radio loud enough for more than one person to hear it.
And they're trying to make a stable pay for playing classical music performances to horses.
Nothing is too crazy for these guys.

[mc4o1993]

yeah. the first thing I think when I hear one is.. "don't answer that, I want to hear the rest of the song."

[mayhem6]

Here, here! I think they are getting free advertising all the time, so why wouldn't they pay us for playing their music?

[rab777hp]

and i'm totally going to wait in public for people to play 15 seconds of a song when they get called instead of buying it.

[bonesb]

It'll be interesting to see how the RIAA can prove the phone wasn't on vibrate at the time of a call...

[bastion]

Looks like someone wants to dethrone the RIAA as the king idiots of the music industry. This easily beats the RIAA's long-standing attempt to claim that when you buy a copy of a musical performance the license applies to the combination of content and medium.

Would this also apply to singing in public? I remember several years ago walking through Newark in the spring and there was a guy doing a phenomenal rendition of "I can see clearly now." Dead-on Otis Redding impression.

[NotarySojac]

Both ASCAP & BMI have made utter buffoons of themselves with their lawsuits:
* Suing a girlscout troupe for singing The Macarena without paying royalties
* Suing a luncheonette owner for playing his radio where customers could hear the re-broadcast music (hence another performance) without paying royalties
* Suing coffeehouse-size venues for not paying royalties to the industry associations for musicians performing their own music (since if we paid it directly to the performer ASCAP/BMI would not get their cut)...

These associations only protect the rights & earnings of major artists, media distributors and theit investors. The royalties that most artists I know receive through them barely pay the annual fees. Direct online/at-show sales & distribution is where many are going and simply cut out the strong-arm squads.

So, yes DogHouseDub - you do owe royalties for sporting a boombox in public... according to ASCAP/BMI.

[CVBruce]

This has been the best laugh of the day. Are you sure it isn't April Fool's Day.
I hope the judge can stop laughing long enough to hear motions.
People please make sure to mute your phone, during court or you are liable to not only be in contempt of court but owe royalties.

[Mac007]

I'd like to see them collect the fees. Enforcement would be impossible.

[heisetax]

That's probably the reason they are only going after the cell phone companies. A big enough target to have something to win or to steal.