How copyright laws affects local businesses

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – Copyright laws can be complicated for entrepreneurs, especially when it comes to playing music inside their businesses.

The legalities of what can and can’t be played often come down to whether they are paying for the privilege for patrons to hear it.

“It’s an unexpected expense,” said copyright lawyer Laura Hagan. “Often times people don’t think about it. They don’t put it in their business plan or they’re not considering that issue.”

One Bowling Green business recently took to Facebook saying they were visited by someone who had come to investigate their music copyright compliance.

Performing rights organizations will often send in watchers who act similarly to secret shoppers.

“In my practice, I have seen organizations such as restaurants come to me where SESAC or BMI has sent a watcher into their organization,” Hagan said. “They listen to the music that’s played, and if it’s one of the music items that’s listed in their catalog they will check to see if that entity has a license agreement. If they do not, then they’ll typically send them a notice that they need to purchase an agreement from them.”

According to ASCAP, the world’s largest performing rights licensing organization, they are a non-profit that represents the performance rights of tens of millions of copyrighted songs and compositions, but they are far from the only one.

BMI, SESAC, and Sound Exchange are all performance rights organizations that require the purchase of licenses for music from their catalogs to be performed.

They can also issue hefty fines if a business is found playing unlicensed music.

Hagan said that purchasing a license from one of these organizations does not cover all music, as different organizations have different artists in their catalogs.

“If you’re like me and have no clue what the rules actually are, I guess you better read up on it really quick. It can put you out of business in a heartbeat,” said Doug Byers, owner of Hard Copies in Bowling Green.

Some exceptions allow certain businesses to play music from radio broadcasts, but those exceptions are limited.

Variables such as the size of the venue, the number of customers the business has, and the number of speakers that are broadcasting can all play a role in whether a license would be required.

Experts say the safest way to protect a business from hefty fines is to stick with music in the public domain or to not play music at all.

More information on copyright law can be found on the U.S. Government’s copyright website.