[joe-frank-list] Joe's use of others' materials

[Bill Milosz]

Having been a producer at a public radio station for many years, it was my understanding that there was a "blanket" contract for the use of any material that was licensed under ASCAP, BMI or the other common music and content licensing institutions which allowed free use of all materials on public air, with no requirement for individual stations to keep track of what was played or for the station to pay any royalties.
Joe Frank's radio shows would have been covered by this agreement hence he did not need to seek permission to use recorded material.
It is my understanding, however, that distributing his work by any other means - Internet to non-paying or paying listeners, live shows, recordings sold or distributed free to the public - he WOULD have had to make arrangements for use of this material, which might require payment. This requirement would not have ended with his death.

SEE https://www.cpb.org/musicrights/about
-Bill Milosz





-----Original Message-----
From: russellbell at gmail.com
To: joe-frank-list at armory.com
Sent: Mon, Sep 21, 2020 6:36 am
Subject: [joe-frank-list] Joe's use of others' materials

    Quoth LD <majestic_cheese at yahoo.com>:

    'Frankly, who cares?'
    Those who asked.

    'That's not really the audience's issue.'
    An audience has no right to demand but every right to ask.

    'Joe may well have had, and probably did have, perfect right
to use the excerpts without Kornfield himself knowing about it, any
more than a musician would necessarily be aware that a given radio
station or broadcast was using his or her music, per some right.'
    Owners of copyrights who permit general use are due royalties
for every commercial use longer than some short excerpt; radio
stations pay them for what they broadcast; Joe would be liable for
royalties on direct sales - these may have not been worth pursuing.
RIAA and BMI listen to radio & TV, now podcasts, Spotify, etc. to
enforce.  If Jack Kornfield registered his lectures with one of the
licensing organizations and permitted general use he received a
royalty every time they were aired on a radio station.  If he didn't
permit general use, then Joe was violating his copyright and Kornfield
can enforce it.  Kornfield may not have copyrighted them.
    Ever hear the song 'Let there be peace on Earth' ('and let it
begin with me')?  If you did, you didn't hear it on the radio or any
other commercial performance: the owners forbade commercial use.  3
cute girls sang it at my high school's talent show, the only time I
heard it, other than the times I sang it with friends, maybe church.
    I saw Tin Pan Alley denizen Sammy Kahn on Dick Cavett's PBS
show.  A pianist played an excerpt of one of his songs.  Kahn asked
him to play some more, then explained that with 4 more bars, he gets a
royalty.
    'Fair use' is the doctrine that allows non-commercial use
without paying royalties: use in school or speeches, for example, but
not in a performance that makes money.  Your high school has to pay
royalties to stage 'Our town'.  It's not an exact concept so is
constantly wrangled over in court.  Lots of owners of music Liddle
Donnie plays at his rallies have sued him.  Joe made money for his
shows: it's commercial.

    Quoth Michal Story:

    'The music is derivative (Joe made the loops and added vocals
/ drones to it? at times.'
    Joe aired all of David Amram's 'Pull my daisy' at the end of
'Bottle for a headstone', all of Etta James's 'At last' at the end of
'At last', a couple of minutes of Sinatra's 'I've got you under my
skin' to close Karma 6, a minute+ of Edie Brickell's 'Nothing' at the
end of 'Emerald Isle'.  'Silent sea' contains many excerpts of
T. S. Eliot reading his poetry.  It's still use even if you add stuff.
M. C. Hammer had to pay Rick James for his use of James's 'Super
freak' bass line in 'U can't touch this'.  Weird Al Yankovic pays
royalties to the owners of songs he spoofs.  He also asks permission.

    'there were / have been no complaints.'
    That's good to hear.

    'Hope this helps'
    Yes, thanks.

    'Answered. previously.'
    Not actually.  I suspect you meant Joe didn't get permission
for the music he used but you didn't come out and say it explicitly.
You can ask even if you don't think you're violating copyright: it's
courteous.


russell bell
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