Ever been put on hold and and found yourself listening to your favorite – or not so favorite radio station? Unless that business has contracted with a service like XM Radio or similar to rebroadcast the music that station is playing -that business is violating Federal Law and risking some serious fines!
Here are the facts:
The Law:
By statutory definition, since a corporation or other company is a place ‘where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered,’ (17 U.S.C. SECTION 101)” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Act_of_1976 “ it is a public place for copyright purposes. Whether the performance is by the playing of a CD or tape, by a radio tuned to a particular station, or via music-on-hold (which constitutes a public performance by virtue of its being a transmission to the public), permission must first be obtained in order for the use of that music to be lawful.”
The Penalties:
The law allows copyright owners to receive as damages for infringement of up to $20,000 for each work infringed. Moreover, a corporate officer who has the right or ability to supervise the company’s music use and who has a direct financial interest in the corporation can be held personally liable for the infringement.
Enforcement:
Agencies employ a small army of people whose sole job is to call businesses and attempt to be placed on-hold. Violators are warned that they are in violation of copyright laws, and they must cease the play of the radio on-hold. Users who are caught in violation and refuse to pay license fees are typically called by ASCAP and BMI subsequently to see if they have ceased playing the radio or other non-licensed music source. Violators who are caught, again, may receive substantial monetary court judgments against them. Some judgments attempt to recover previous licensing fees that can go as far back as from the time the business began operating.
Bottom line here.. If you run across a company doing this sort of thing — do them a favor and encourage them to stop!
Message on hold systems many of which cost under $250 are a very affordable alternative to “radio on hold” and usually come with content that is completely legal for a business to broadcast as well as offering other benefits including:
- Not playing commercials, which may be offensive or at least annoying to the caller. Also not playing a competitor’s commercial, which would be counter-productive.
- Content that is reassuring to the calling customer thereby making their time on hold a little more bearable.
- One can also add custom message on hold content that provides useful information to the caller – including hours of operation, directions or even special products and services they might benefit by knowing about.
Considering the high price a business will pay if and increasingly when they caught doesn’t it make more sense just to comply with the law and drop the radio while on hold?
Skipping the idea of writing a FIVE FIGURE check to BMI ASCAP or others certainly sounds like a better idea by me!