Small Business and Licenses (Score 1)

There is an "out" for small businesses that just play music as background. Under Section 110(5) of the Copyright Act, persons who play their radio or television in a public place are exempt from the BMI/ASCAP-type license requirement if the signals are received by a single receiving apparatus of a kind commonly used in private homes, and they don't "retransmit" the signal elsewhere. So, if a business uses a small receiver and pair of speakers commonly used in a home to play FM music in a store that is not larger than a typical home, they can tell the BMI/ASCAP guy to shove off. Nice decision on point (also showing the way BMI thinks) in Broadcast Music, Inc. v. Claire's Boutiques, Inc., 949 F.2d 1482 (7th Cir. 1991), available online at http://www.studentweb.law.ttu.edu/cochran/cochran/ Cases%20&%20Readings/Copyright-UNT/Public%20Perfor m/claires.htm.

While IAAL, this message is not intended as legal advice - pay a lawyer for specific advice if you are deciding how to respond to a BMI/ASCAP threat!