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ASCAP (and BMI) sound like a mafia shakedown in stories I heard from small businesses. "I hear you've got live music here. The performers must be playing our li
by EvanAnderson 5y ago
ASCAP (and BMI) sound like a mafia shakedown in stories I heard from small businesses. "I hear you've got live music here. The performers must be playing our licensed material. It'd be a shame if something happened to your business." I've heard this from two small business owners who hosted live music and had strict guidelines that performers play only original or public domain music. Both said that the union rep simply wouldn't take "No" for an answer and kept coming back and making vague threats.
- ChrisMarshallNY 5y agoThat makes sense. You'd need to make sure that didn't happen. It would probably be easier to ensure, because of easily-read written licenses. You wouldn't have the bent-nose chaps trying to extort users of MIT-licensed software.
- EvanAnderson 5y agoThese shakedowns already happen. Oracle is a good example of one company who conducts them. Microsoft gained a reputation, back in the early 2000's, for feigning incredulity that you'd be using PCs with a non-Microsoft operating system. It's a lot easier, as a user of software, to choose software with Free or permissive licenses than it is to know if a musical composition is part of the ASCAP or BMI catalog, though. I'd just avoid proprietary licenses, like those from Oracle, Microsoft, or you're describing, and encourage others to do the same.