Legal logistics of a joint Part15+Web station

It is legal to both radiate with an antenna using the Part 15 rules as guidelines and also stream on the internet.

If the music you play on the internet is in the public domain, from a creative commons noncommercial arrangement or released as community audio, it is free unless you sell commercial air time.

Otherwise licensed music requires licensing payments and I will leave it to others to explain how that works, since I have never streamed music subject to license.

Hope you will pursue it and enjoy your experience as a Part 15 radio station.

You will need to deal with BMI and Ascap for music license.

You can get a rider for the streaming part of your station.

I strongly recommend you do these two things as the fines can be pure evil.

Also check out the ALPB as we are here to help you get started.

Lefty .

Yes, you certainly can fire up a Part 15 transmitter and feed it and a web stream with the same programming.  You just have to meet the technical requirements to make sure your transitter/installation is legal, and you need no special broadcast license for streaming.

However, if you're playing music, you need the rights to broadcast it, both on the web and in the air.  Many will argue that music licensing is not necessary for Part 15 radio. Well, it is.  If ALL you do is broadcast Part 15 radio, you may get away with not licensing it forever.  Or you may not. It does not matter is you sell advertising or not, music used for public performance must pay the PRO (performing rights organizations) and if you're making money at it is NOT a factor. BMI has a form for rights for Part 15 stationson their website. ASCAP does not, and never replied to my two inquirings when I started.  I saved copies of my correspondence proving that I TRIED to pay them, and they refused me.  I believe SESAC has an exemption available for Part 15.  Again, on the radio ONLY, you may never get caught. if you DO the fines can ben in the tens of thousands of dollars. You take your own risk.  If you STREAM, you ALSO must pay the PRO's AND Soundscan  -- the Pro's only pay writers of the songs, and this is all radio is required to so, STREAMERS also have to pay the performers, and this is handled through Soundscan.  If you opt to stream I would highly recomment one of the MANY streaming services that can handle it for you, and yes they will charge you $$, but the package deal will include the necessary music rights.  The odds of getting caught streaming music without a license is MUCH higher than getting caught broadcasting it on a Part 15 station.

As for Public Domain music -- that woujld be music, in the USA anyway, published BEFORE 1922.  Nothing else is PD. And a key element to remember here, is even though the SONG may be older than that, the PERFORMANCE won't be, unless you're playing a record made before 1922, and even then it may NOT be PD.  So there is little recorded music that is actually free to use.  Yes, there is Creative Commons and there's a lot of CC music out there, and the copyright owners will have varying rights assigned to their music, but yes, CC music does exist that you can use. 

So, you don't need a BROADCAST license for Part 15, OR streaming.  BUt if you want to stream copyrighted music you need a performance rights license for the music. Same thing for radio programs, any other audio that exists that you might want to broadcast or stream. Unless you wrote and and created it, someone else owns the copyright. Becareful what you stream without the paperwork in order.

Yes, the PRO's will need to license it to someone.  A real person with a name and address.  You can license it to a corporation, but it's not worth the cost to form a corporation.  If you operate your station as a business or legal non-profit, you can license it to that entity but that's a lot of paperwork and expense. 

I can't remember the BMI license fee, but it was around $125 for a year.  As I said, ASCAP ignored my attempts to give them money, and SESAC has an exemption.  BTW, BMI also has a low cost streaming license for Part 15 streamers now, too.  Cheaper than what a regular station pays for streaming. But you really need a package deal for streaming that covers it all.  Google is your friend.  Look at the many streaming services that make it pretty easy to do legally.

I now most of the ins and outs (and what people try to get away with) with over 40 years in commercial radio, and 10+ years as owner of a small music publishing company and record label, plus my now 8 month old and rather successful part 15 station (I don't stream).  I've been around the block several times with all this stuff.

BTW, I'm working on what is now turning out to be a small book on radio programming, with an emphasis on Part 15.

Tim in Bovey

Iron Range Country Radio

Tim has accurately described the ins and outs of licensing for the U.S.

I just want to note that copyright law and the agencies that handle licensing differ considerably outside of the U.S. (which is probably the most draconian of all).  For example, in Canada, which is where I'm located, there is only one agency to deal with - SOCAN - which handles both over the air and streaming.  And there is a lot of music in the public domain here, even more in Europe (although they're changing the laws as I type this to come more into line with the U.S. - this was prompted by the falling into public domain of the first Beatles single).

Tank you, Tim, for that very thorough response. I have also wondered where Part 15 broadcasters stood in the music licensing realm. You've certainly clarified the subject for me.

One more note.  While it's 'generally accepted' that any music prior to 1923 is in the public domain, I've also read that some legal experts feel that NO records are in the public domain until 2036 or so (as there were no specific copyright rules until recently re music recordings).

it is the general acceptance of the copyright legal community that there are NO sound recordings in the USA that are public domain until the year 2067.  Of course there is debate on this, but that's how it's been shaking down the last couple years.  A SONG from 1922 may be a public domain song, but there's no actual SOUND RECORDING of that song that is PD, due to some quirks in copyright law.  You can USE a public domain song, as long as you own the recording of, or the rights to a recording of that song. 

Of course this often all comes down to interpretation, and how much risk you decide to take.  A non-streaming part 15 station may get away with it forever. Maybe not.  YOU can sing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" copyright free, you can even play the organ and accompany yourself, but you can't use ANY existing sound recording of the song.  HOWEVER  (great example of quirks) be sure you're singing the 1908 version of the lyrics!  There were new lyrics written in 1927, and that version is NOT in the public domain!

Worth noting:  The odds of getting caught, or being questioned, depend greatly on who might make trouble for you. this would apply about ANY legal matter of your part 15 station. Believe it or not, commercial stations may not like you broadcasting alternative radio choices -- even if you're not selling ads, you could be stealing some listeners. If they get curious, they may seek to shut you down over some technical detail, or will want to check your right to be broadcasting music. Same thing if you're one of those stations who has decided to change the world with your politics and public policy rants. If you torque off the more conservative people, or the radicals if you're in that sort of area, and they want to shut you up, they may seek a legal way to do so, so it's always wise to be sure you've got your bases covered and are operating as legally as you can, and be able to show PRO's (performance rights organizations), the FCC, and anyone else who may have to care, that you are clearly operating  to the letter of the law as best you can, and can show a good faith effort to do it right. 

Tim in Bovey

I knew the date was way out there - just didn't bother to look it up.  Thanks Tim.

Again, what you are describing is the draconian U.S. copyright laws.  It's quite different in Canada, Europe and other places.  For example, in Canada (and Europe), sound recordings go into the public domain after 50 years.  The rights to the actual song go into the public domain 50 years after the last living credited performer/writer dies.  So you can play a song over 50 years old, as long as you pay license fees to the artists.  Of course, even if an artist isn't formally credited, they can still sue (some successfully have) for the rights to a song they were involved with.

I think it's actually easier to pay the licensing fees, rather than determining if a particular song recording/song is in the public domain - the licensing agency takes care of who gets remunerated.

As a side note, the rights to the song Happy Birthday are owned by Warner Brothers, based on dubious claims that they purchased them (the lyrics were written in the 1930s).  They charge film makers a flat fee of $20,000 to have it sung in anything screened in the U.S.  In Canada, the song is in the public domain, and can be used freely, but if you want your movie played in the U.S., you have to fork over the cash to WB.  However, the Happy Birthday music is based on a public domain song, Good Morning To You, and that can be used freely, even in the U.S. (you can even add your own,  self-written birthday lyrics and be legal).