Legal
 

Ive read through alot of theese topics and i still am not sure if its Legal or Illegal to Broadcast Online Via Shoutcast. Now im only 13 i cant pay for any licenses or anything will i still be able to do it?

If you play copyrighted music then you will have to pay fees.

What is wrong with unsigned music anyway? :)

so if i wanted to play Iron maiden for example i would have to pay?

You should, but you don't have to. Most people these days don't. Neither do I.

so its ok if i keep a playlist looping all day with a selection of songs from my favourite CD's?

Yep, that's what I've been doing.

Great!!!! that makes me so much happier Thanks so much for your Help.

Whats your Station called i wanna hear some other peoples stations to get an idea of how to do this stuff right.

I'm not trying to put you off doing this, but just want to clarify...

No its not "OK" in legal terms just "coz other people do it". Ideally you should seek the relevant licenses.

HOWEVER - Most webcasters I know go on the basis that the licensing co's have bigger fish to fry.

If you want to do it, why not go for it there isnt anybody stopping you :D

so can they do anything to me Legally? like sue me or Bang me up in a jail somewhere?

They can sue you, which essentially your parents would be the ones fined.

The fine would vary, but the fees for one year are over 2000 dollars, and I'm sure someone else will tell you more than I can.

so it would be safer to schedule my radio to be only on at some times and days?

Not really, but you have to think, there are thousands of stations out there serving more listeners than you running illegally, who do you think they'll go for first?

In-Cog-Neato
 

I think Lore3k is an RIAA official in disguise...WATCH OUT!!!! It's all a conspiracy, and a ploy to keep the little guys like us oppressed, and down! GREEN POWER!
POWER TO THE PEEPHOLE!

JMan
128k 24k

no im just an extremely Paranoid Teen i suppose your right why would they pick on a server whos broadcasting to about 10 people?

Don't blame us if you actually do get sued or something one day though, our advice shall not be used against us in a court of law :p

LOL
 

Just kidding, holmes. Smoke em if ya got em....uhhhh, I mean....Don't Smoke! It's bad for your <cough> Health! :)

JMan
Good Signal Kinda Shitty Signal

gah makes me even more Paranoid

hmm so how would i go about getting some Unsigned Rock Artists for my Station?

Here's my area of expertise ;)

There are plenty of yahoo groups you can join and post in, just search for "unsigned rock" on www.groups.yahoo.com

Also, go to sites that are music related, and have forums, like www.soundclick.com

You need permission from the artists though, check out my form:
http://www.unsigned-online.com/submitmusic.shtml
Yeah, its crappy, whatEVER :p

Thanks alot protegechris i shall work on it tommorow. it aint crappy its pretty good :D


Ok my Final Question is: i live in the UK ive read its Royatly free in Canada what about the UK?

Royalty Free? Not really. For now it has been declared legal to download and uplaod I beleive (I don't know exactly, I remember the news article about it in the paper though.) So essentially, its legal for now. Not royalty free, but legal to do it for free.

Regards,

Right, i live in a UK. Is there anything to get such as being a member to actually stream musics (people who are famous) Since the odd of being fined isnt that pleasant. :(

I heard that you could get a (imesh member) to stream any music you want on SHOUTcast server but it accepts credit card which i dont have one.

Anyone else have a idea?

If you're in the UK (Like me :D) - you want to check out the following website:

http://www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk/

Now, i've rang them up to enquire as alot of my clients have asked us about it.

The figure to pay (for 24/7 radio) would be just short of £300 per quarter (so every 3 months). So you're looking at around £80/month I think.

However, I have heard that you can "nock em down". As they have no "set in stone" rates as such.

EDIT:
Oh yeah, and that price is based on the fact that people are not paying to listen.

:O Thats alot. :'( Now im having doubts.

Gah what to do what to do?

Being a Imesh member seems a bit reasonable. since its allow you to play copyrighted music for about £10 a year. But uses credit card. Looks like i got to do more research.

What is the URL to this Imesh site. 10 euros is probably about 15$ cdn per year, which is pretty good for legalty on a stream. I may look into it.

Regards,

Yeah, the link is www.imesh.com. I'm going to make a post if the free version can do the same for free. However the free version has a ad and the premium software doesnt.

Where is the part about the license?

Regards,

If you visit to the www.imesh.com. Click on the: About Us section. It should say.

The license agreement is on the bottom. Which will be in a hyperlink.

Ive been told by my friend that he is a imesh member so he recommend me using it, because its cheap and a good offer.

Regards,

IMO, it doesn't look like its a license at all. Imesh is a downloading program :P

Regards,

That's what I thought until I started getting packets of licensing contracts in the mail from BMI. :)

At the time I was in the process of looking for "legit" ways to stream anyway and wound up relaying my ShoutCast server through Live365 soon thereafter.

with written work royalty groups like BMI and SESAC its all about your website, it makes no difference if you broadcast but if you link to it at your website then you are responsible for it under their current licensing system.

But as always the best advice is to consult a intellectual property lawyer. I am not one.

http://www.imesh.com./license_agreement.shtml

That's not a license to broadcast music over shoutcast. It's a license agreement that you have to agree to, in order to use the iMesh software.

These agreements are in pretty much all software install programs, you have to click "I agree" to continue.

For more unsigned band you might want to check out www.purevolume.com theres a whole unsigned section, find a band you want to put on air and E-Mail them and ask them for permisson (Usually they are happy to get some free airplay) and then your all set.