I ran a ringtone startup back in 2000 - 2004. ASCAP threatened us more than once. They claimed that someone who purchased a ringtone from us would then go ahead

I ran a ringtone startup back in 2000 - 2004. ASCAP threatened us more than once. They claimed that someone who purchased a ringtone from us would then go ahead and make a public performance every time their phone rang, and thus, we were obliged to pay up performance licensing fees. I can remember looking the 'payment schedules' over in my freshman dorm room shaking my head in disbelief (We were already paying other rights agencies at the time [edit - including ASCAP]). The whole thing was absurd. Good to see a court has finally slapped some sense into them. The advice from our lawyers was to just pay up unless we had the money to fight them in the 'Rate Court' http://www1.nysd.uscourts.gov http://www1.nysd.uscourts.gov Glad someone finally did.