Out of the old blue I received an e-mail offering a 3-hour oldies show for my stream/part 15 station. I sent back a “thank you, but” reply based on the fact that I am only authorized to broadcast “with permission” or “public domain” material, but not copyrighted oldies. There was no reply to my reply.
Was this a “feeler” from the royalty gestapo? Where they trying to lure me into illegal activity in a deal too good to refuse?
Beware anything that’s too good to be…, you know what I mean.
What?
If you are a part 15 station,there is no way they could get you for playing whatever music you like. This is because the FCC declares that it is not broadcasting. There is nothing in the FCC rules regarding the content of a part 15 station. If that was the case,then everyone using a part 15 device to send their ipod or mp3 player to their car stereo would be in violation. I dont know what the offer you got was all about,but I believe you should play what you want. I have been for ,let see…since 1967,ummm 41 years! I think its safe. Rock on!
DOH! Edit: I see you are streaming,thats a no-no for sure. I need to read more carefully!
Ya But
Thank you Wilcom Labs for your comment. Yes, I entirely believe that part 15 content is a private and personal matter, and on that subject, was astounded to hear that BMI has a license form and $250 fee for Part 15 stations!
But here’s my situation. I also stream on Shoutcast, and that’s what I was defending with my concern about being finessed into running unlicensed music.
Of course, it may be true that the entity making the oldies offer was presuming I was licensed. But I think had they been more experienced they would have included a notification about royalty requirements.
Also, maybe there’s a deal where “networks” or programmers can cover licensing for all their affiliates, but that too would need to be posted with the offer, and I saw no such thing.