Words of wisdom RichE76. Ask anyhting and the gang here at Part15-dot-us will give the best from their knowledge and experience.
Of course I don't charge a fee, perhaps I was misheard... I said, I give it away for free.
My stations are for fun, that's for sure, and it's fun to pretend I'm a great big group owner with plans to expand.
It means I'll gain weight.
I misinterpreted that Carl. So do you have business license and EIN for your station?
RickE76, this is one of those times when I shouldn't have been a little bit silly.
I have mixed serious advice with a little joking around.
Now I realize it is probably not easy to spot the difference.
I do operate several part 15 transmitters and I stream on line.
My operation is 100% hobby.
I do not have or need a business license because no "business" activity happens on premises.
Business activity would be 1.) an office open to the public where they could stop by, 2.) workers and air talent parking cars and coming inside. I have none of that.
My station is a one man job.
When I say I am a "group owner" it is a joke, a kind of perk of the hobby.
The names I use "KDX" and "Worldround Radio" are toy names, like giving a dog a name.
Everything in life is a matter of how you think and what you believe.
BUT, don't listen only to my opinions on these things. Rich Powers and the others gave sincere advice, and you should check it out. Also, finding a reliable attorney is very useful, and it is no joke that some attorneys will charge money without giving the best advice, and I have no idea how to select a competent one.
Purely by good luck I know an attorney I trust and have spent many hours talking about many issues.
Everyone should have some kind of legal education simply to understand how complex and specialized the law actually is.
There are federal, state, local laws, communications, copyright, corporate, business, not-for-profit, and laws extending into disagreements, property, crime, etc.
NO attorney knows it all, which is why they specialize in limited areas, like divorce attorneys, traffic attorneys, communications, copyright, business...
I've asked my attorney about "hobby law" and frankly he never even thought about such a thing and has no idea if there even is such a thing as "hobby law."
Perhaps the one rule there is to comply with tax law.
It doesn't get easier.
Oh, and think about this: HAM amateur radio hobbyists DO NOT need a business license! So why would a part 15 station need one?
License maybe a misnomer in a sense, some mentioned something about an Entertainment license. I know when I owned a store it was a different license then when I worked at a Vendor Outlet, that was more a Merchatile Tax License. I was getting at like an EIN or TIN for Tax Exempt for buying equipment or for claiming money acquired from sponsors or what not. Like I said before just trying to do everything as legal as I can.
Another question is does anyone know any good Public Domain or Royalty Free sites for music. Any I have found are pay sites.
RickE76,
have a look in our Resources area http://www.part15.us/content/part15-radio-resources
There we have links to open source audio.
I use Radiodirectx as well.
thanks Rock95Steven, been doing so much sometimes I forget the easy stuff.
I am pleased to report that 2, yes 2 Part 15 stations operate within 1 mile of each other in The Greater Metro Area of Dade City, FL.
you may want to post some of these questions that have been presented in this thread over on http://www.radio-talk.net there is a user over there named BTurner who is very knowledgable on the very subjects being questioned in this topic.
i would recommend searching for his past posts as well. he has made many great postings related to the business and operations side of radio over the years.