Dear Stacey, AAM put out a fact sheet on this awhile back, as BMI was harassing everyone. It is available online at http://www.aam-us.org/upload/Music_Licensing.pdf As you'll see, there are a number of exceptions for music licensing that are relevant for museums. If your museum has legal counsel, you should probably consult with them, and use AAM's fact sheet as a guide. One thing is clear, however -- playing music in your store, from cds you sell, is a-okay. Kaia On Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 12:29 PM, Stacey <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi, all > > I did look at the Museum-L archives and found a few postings about some > upcoming webinars or workshops about music licensing that I think occurred > over the summer and I'm wondering if the results or summaries of them exist > anywhere or if anyone that might have attended can share? > > Since about 3 or so months ago we've been hounded by ASCAP who is becoming > increasingly insistent that we sign up for their museum music licensing > agreement, which will cost us over $700 annually. I'm getting mailings, > emails and phone messages. I'm not aware that we are violating any > music/copyright laws, nor have they complained about any particular > violation. The music we play in the store is strictly limited to CD's that > we sell, which I understand is perfectly legit. We have permission to play > whatever videos we have in our galleries or, if we have the occasional live > performance, we then pay the appropriate fees to the performer. > > I also understand that BMI has done this to some museums...so what's to > prevent another agency from insisting that we sign up with them? We can't > afford these annual fees...and I'm loathe to sign up once, because I feel at > that point I've obligated us to annual fees forever... > > Thoughts? Materials to share? > > Stacey Otte > Executive Director > Catalina Island Museum > History's never been this much fun! > > http://www.CatalinaMuseum.org <http://www.catalinamuseum.org/> > ** > This communication and any accompanying document(s) is intended only for > the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain > information that is privileged, *confidential* and exempt from disclosure > under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended > recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message > to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, > distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you > have received this communication in error, please notify Stacey Otte at > [log in to unmask] or by telephone at 310-510-4650. Thank You > > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).