Universal Music Sues YouTube, MySpace

Universal Music filed suit against popular web sites YouTube and MySpace for music copyright violations; both sites deny the allegations but Universal claims they are owed millions. These two lawsuits are just the beginning in what promises to be a long line of lawsuits to come; the music industry is coming down increasingly hard on those who continue to broadcast music without a music license.

As in our previous blog a couple of days ago, Performance Rights Organizations like ASCAP also recently took legal action against 2 dozen venues playing music without paying royalties. Any business including restaurants, businesses who use music on hold, muzak, in-store music, basically any one who plays music intended for the public to hear or on the internet must obtain music license to play music legally.

These legal actions are avoidable through the purchase of music licenses or royalty free music, royalty free music being the cheaper and easier to obtain of the two. Unlike most music licenses there is only a one time fee and the purchaser is free to use the music as often and however they like. If you’re still playing music without a proper license you really should consider royalty free music for peace of mind. It‘s worth the small fee, as being sued could cost you thousands if not millions of dollars. There is really no reason to continue risking legal action, your business and reputation by playing music illegally.

ASCAP Initiates Lawsuit for Playing Copyrighted Music

Are you a business owner or manager? Are you aware it is illegal to play copyrighted music on the premises (for example, music on hold, in-store music) without a music license? If you already know the the importance of playing music legally, but have been holding off getting a music license because of the cost, you should consider royalty free music as an alternative. Unlike the majority of music licenses, royalty free music cost a one-time low fee. You are then free to use the music as many times, in a many ways, for as long as you like. Regular music licenses like needle drop licensing usually have strict guidelines on how the music is to be used, and charge fees base on demographic, 'attendees', geographic use, medium, etc as well as addition royalties.

If you are hesitant to use royalty free music because you believe customers only want to hear popular music, you should know royalty free music is as well produced, composed and appealing as any music heard on the radio today. Because the demand for royalty free music is rapidly growing, royalty free music libraries like Opuzz have been working hard to provide a good selection of hi-quality royalty free music.

It is really important to get your music legally, especially today as the music industry is coming down hard on those who flaunt the law or even plead ignorence. Last week in Seattle two dozen venues were cited in a lawsuit by ASCAP for failing to properly license their music. This need not happen to you especially since obtaining music legally is easy and inexpensive with royalty free music.