Be Careful with Your Website!

[james terrio]

ETA..... Woah... I must have missed the FM radio part.... that is free listening no matter how many folks are present. The radio station already paid for that.

I'm pretty sure you're wrong. Just because it's already on the air or on the web, doesn't mean we can use it for our own purposes. That was my mistake, learn from it.

The radio station pays licensing fees to broadcast copyrighted stuff, whether it's music or football games or the weather report. A storefront, tavern, or restaurant that doesn't pay those fees, has no legal right to "rebroadcast" a radio station or jukebox tunes on their premises. Nor does a knifemaker have any right to post youtube videos or websites with copyrighted music/images/etc to promote themselves, unless they pay the holders of any such copyrights. (Not naming any name$ here)

It's the law, y'all. Learn from my mistake.

[Rick Marchand]

I'm pretty sure I'm right....


From this document (U.S. based)..... http://www.restaurant.org/pdfs/legal...ing.pdfSimilar

Restaurants under 3,750 gross square feet (not counting the parking lot) will be exempt
from paying royalties on radio and television music only.
Restaurants over 3,750 gross square feet (not counting the parking lot) may also be
exempt: 1. if they play no more than four televisions, each measuring up to 55” diagonally (no
more than one per room), with no more than six speakers total, and with no more than four
speakers per room, or 2. if they play radios that have no more than six speakers total, with no
more than four speakers per room.
For restaurants to be eligible for the exemption, they must not charge a cover fee to see the
television or listen to the radio.

Related Exemption

Retailers also receive an exemption under the new law. Retailers under 2,000 gross square
feet (not counting the parking lot) are exempt; retailers over 2,000 gross square feet (not count-
ing the parking lot) will receive the same equipment exemption as restaurant owners (see above).

From this document(Canadian based)... http://www.restaurantregulations.ca/...the-restaurant

When do I not have to pay for a music licence?

- If you only have an un amplified (i.e. no additional speakers attached) radio playing, the radio station has already received the licence.

Another Canadian source... http://restaurantcentral.ca/Musicroy...tbusiness.aspx

The cost of music

There are various tariffs payable, depending on how music is used in your establishment. The table below shows how these tariffs apply to foodservice operations. Neither Re:Sound nor Socan collect music royalties from restaurants if you play broadcast radio such as AM or FM radio stations in your restaurant. If you subscribe to a background music service or to satellite radio for your restaurant, check with your provider to see if music royalties are already covered by the provider.

ETA
I agree that images used to promote a business are going to get you into trouble if they have copyrights but you have to look at scale. Joe Schmoe knifemaker who has a picture of a guy at a steel mill on page 8 of his site titled "Where steel comes from" is not going to get the same treatment as Joe Schmidt knifemaker who is selling Rambo Knife clones with imbedded movie clips and pictures of Sylvester Stallone direct from the Time Warner site.... not naming names.

[cheeseychung]

Yeah definitely copyright trolls. They do stuff like this in hopes that you will take the initial settlement. If you scare 1000 people and 100 of them pay they still make excellent money. Same thing they do for pirated music, movies, software. Scary stuff but honestly I wouldn't even respond

[james terrio]

Well, umm, errr. Canada doesn't count.

My point remains, why even fool with it?

[Rick Marchand]

Ha!..... excellent retort MrT.... Oops, I woke my wife up with that "Ha!"

Blood from a stone, brother.

[james terrio]

My apologies to your wife

[Robert Dark]

You might be right about the retail store size exemptions, however, his store-front was in a pretty dang good size public mall. I think, because of the size of the mall, that they included the entire shopping mall. They gave him a hard time, and rather than fight it, he just paid up. As a side note, he left the mall location a couple of months later. In his new location, he had absolutely no music anywhere.

Robert

[sunshadow]

Yeah definitely copyright trolls. They do stuff like this in hopes that you will take the initial settlement. If you scare 1000 people and 100 of them pay they still make excellent money. Same thing they do for pirated music, movies, software. Scary stuff but honestly I wouldn't even respond

Some people obviously do not understand intellectual property. Some of us actually try to make a living creating and selling images. I did for 26 years until digital and the lack of manufacturing in this country put a lot of us out of business. Someone using an image without permission is no different from someone stealing a knife off of your table.

-Page

[Rick Marchand]

Some people obviously do not understand intellectual property. Some of us actually try to make a living creating and selling images. I did for 26 years until digital and the lack of manufacturing in this country put a lot of us out of business. Someone using an image without permission is no different from someone stealing a knife off of your table.

-Page

Here, here......... I never condone piracy.... but honest mistakes(Like the OP's incident) is hardly akin to downloading movies, CD's or using images to directly promote a product. I am an artist, too.... and get paid for music and video through SOCAN. I believe those laws are in place to protect your intellectual property, not make a living off of sueing unaware honest people.

[Runthemall]

Sounds like somebody is bilking you for money. Take the picture down and make them sue you. I doubt they will.

[midnight flyer]

Here, here......... I never condone piracy.... but honest mistakes(Like the OP's incident) is hardly akin to downloading movies, CD's or using images to directly promote a product. I am an artist, too.... and get paid for music and video through SOCAN. I believe those laws are in place to protect your intellectual property, not make a living off of sueing unaware honest people.

Exactly. If James was reselling the image or used it in an advertising campaign, made it his logo, or anything else that the specific use of that image generated income to him while depriving someone else of theirs, that would be different.

Even as litigious as our society has become, even as sure as we are that we need to be rewarded for any kind of wrong doing of any type no matter how large or small, we still have to understand that mistakes are made. I think that's all that was.

Much ado about nothing.

Robert

[tryppyr]

After reading all the replies, I think the message in the first post has the most real value. Just don't use "stock" images on your website unless you can prove you have a license to do so. It's a simple rule to follow, and limits you VERY little. Take your own pictures and you have nothing to worry about at all. Post your own music and you have nothing to worry about. Make and post your own videos and you have nothing to worry about... unless your videos violate some other law.

Thanks, James, for the reminder. I personally never use any intellectual property on my web sites other than those I create.

- Greg

[martensite]

interesting thread. slightly off topic, threads like this make me think of the "homeowners insurance" value of operating a small business as a legal LLC. the LLC could get sued out of existence, but the owners other possessions might be safe. maybe.

in my state, it's $100 to form an LLC, and $15 per year after that.


in 2010 a friend of mine got drug into this same thing, a website image copyright complaint from G**TY images. four years earlier, a supply company had made him an offer to design a website for him and host it at no charge, in exchange for an order link on his site and referring customers to them. he also got a small percentage.

it was his website, but he didn't create the site, choose the images, or host the website. the supply company eventually settled the issue, but my friend had to pay his lawyer for consultation and sending the right legal letters.

[Phil705]

Methinks Midnight Flyer is offering good advice. I,d be inclined to follow it and dare them to come after you in court for the $900.