RE: Pay royalties for own music on own website?

["Andrew Koenig" <ark@acm.org>]

> So, I'm confused. Do you have the same regulation in US? Do you really
> have to pay royalties for your own music on your own web page
> (pathetic!)? In Germany/Europe? What about music not registered with
> GEMA/ASCAP? What about lyrics/song transcriptions?

I am fairly confident that if you contract with ASCAP or BMI to manage the
rights for your music, you have to pay them to use it in exactly the same
way that you have to pay to use anyone else's music.

That policy is not as absurd as it sounds.  For example, if you retained 
the
right to publish your own work without paying ASCAP, would you also have 
the
right to license that work to someone else, thus bypassing ASCAP's fees?

For live performance, the situation is even more interesting.  My
understanding is that in the USA, a live performer has the right to play
anything, and it is the person who operates the venue who is on the hook 
for
royalties or license fees.  Which means that if you are running a venue, 
and
you present a performer who does work covered by ASCAP, you have to pay for
an ASCAP license regardless of whose work the performer presents.

In a way, that policy makes sense, because it makes the rules easier to
understand and administer.

The real answer, of course, would be if all composers were to get together
and refuse to sign away relicensing rights to organizations such as ASCAP.