Discuss all things Ghostbusters here, unless they would be better suited in one of the few forums below.
#4890448
Has anyone ever been hassled over playing Ghostbusters music at public events? Our local comic con just warned us that "Any booth that plays music without proper licensing is at risk of ASCAP fining them from several to tens of thousands of dollars." As I understand it, this falls under the public performance copyright law, so I understand why they are warning us about this.

For those who don't know, ASCAP and BMI are like the "Walter Peck" of the songwriting and music composition industry.

Aside from that, I'm mostly just curious if any GB folks have ever had to deal with this. For me, bustin' without the theme song just feels...empty, y'know?
#4890449
Here's my two cents. A) Keep in mind I'm no legal expert, and B) I'm from Canada and copyright stuff is a bit different here.

First off, you'd need someone who works with ASCAP or is close to the artist to A) be at the event and B) care that you might be using the song without the proper public performance rights. If no-one's there, or no-one cares, to "tell-on-you" you're not in trouble.

Secondly, it's my understanding that those groups aren't able to enforce copyright on the spot, but simply inform the violator of their misdeed and then the artist of the violation and recommend that the artist press charges or whatever.

All of this is to say that if you're playing the Ghostbusters theme from your proton pack or an Ecto-mobile or a stereo at a con in support of your activities as The Ghostbusters of Salt Lake, I can't imagine GhostCorps giving a rodent's rear that you're doing it without public performance rights, especially if you're an accredited franchise; to them it'd be part of the free brand promotion that the ghosthead community does daily.

Let's face it, that's probably the reason why Sony and GhostCorps are happy to give out franchise certificates and why they've never (to my knowledge) launched a rights lawsuit at any group; we provide positive promotion of their brand through the charity work that we do, through how open and inclusive and resource-sharing this forum is with new members. Yes, a lot of the stuff we build ourselves from fan-made plans, but that all fuels the fire and keeps us going back for licensed merchandise. We do a lot of work bringing more GB fans into the fold, so they seem to turn a blind eye to people playing their GB-related works publicly without any paperwork done.

Again, I'm not a lawyer, I'm Canadian, and I in no-way speak on behalf of any performance rights groups or artists. Hope this helps.
#4890470
Canada and most other countries should have similar organizations like ASCAP. Google reveals SOCAN is one for you guys.

ASCAP/BMI/SESAC/SoundExchange in the US are performance rights organizations (or PRO). They offer an "easy" way for radio stations, restaurants, bowling allies, etc. to license music without having to track down each artist individually to get permission to use their music publicly. Artists register their work with a PRO and the PRO collects license fees and pays the artist royalties. Sony also has to have a license agreement with the artist (Ray Parker Jr., Bobby Brown, etc.) to use the music in their movies. Sony does not likely control the performance rights for the songs (unless the artist signed away their rights or something).

I'm not worried about Sony/Ghost Corps. I know they are supporting us fans. It's the ASCAP agents who are on the lookout for the unlicensed "performance" of songs that they represent. Just Google "ASCAP fines" and you'll see these guys can be quite ruthless. As big as Salt Lake Comic Con has become, it's very likely to have drawn their attention to it. And I'm sure this is why we've been asked not to play unlicensed music at the con. As I have read a bit more on this, it should be the responsibility of the venue to acquire the license, especially since we are non-profit and do not benefit financially from the playing of these songs. It's the venue that would benefit with profits from ticket sales, etc. But since it's the con organizers that have asked us not to do it, we either go along with it or go home. :(
#4890544
In Canada, If a DJ is playing music at their booth at a wedding show, the DJ is responsible for having a SOCAN license. The organisers of the wedding show aren't on the hook for any fines, nor is the hotel hosting the wedding show, if you catch my drift. FanEXPO, Canada's biggest convention group, does masquerade/cosplay contests and gives contestants the option to have music played while they're on stage. FanEXPO has never been slapped in the wrist by SOCAN because of the contestants having the DJ play copyrighted music without public performance rights. If they had, they'd be far more strict about the music you can have accompany your walk on stage, if not stop the practice altogether. Lots of other booths/artists have music playing and there's never been a problem. Or if there has been, FanEXPO hasn't taken the brunt of it and thus, allows it to continue.

Considering any other guy in GB kit can play the Ghostbusters theme from their proton pack and the organisers won't tell them to stop playing it... I mean, yes you've got your own booth, but if ASCAP tries to come after the organisers, because they weren't the ones playing the music, their lawyers will easily pass the buck on to you, "We're not responsible for our guests' use of media while at the con; if they used media without proper public performance rights, that's not our problem because we weren't playing the music." At which point it'll come down to your group. ASCAP isn't going to give you guys grief; they're looking for people profiting off of playing media without permission and I would imagine they've been told by SONY to look the other way when it comes to GB groups.

I was a member of the management committee for one of the bars at Canadian Forces Base Comox in Comox, BC. We had a similar concern with regard to movie nights. Despite being a private club, if we wanted to have a movie night and charge an admission, we'd have to have public performance rights to do so. That makes sense because we'd be profiting from the performance of a movie.

If the convention organisers were going to make any extra money from admissions, it would be because they've advertised you guys as a guest and a handful of people decided that seeing you was worth the cost of admission. But then they're coming to see you, not to hear you play the Ghostbusters theme.

If someone were to hear the song as they were passing and come to you and buy a trap that one of your members makes and was selling, that'd be a bit of a different situation; but you'd be collecting money for charity and again, SONY doesn't care about GB groups using their media without rights, so ASCAP shouldn't care either. If they did, you'd likely be able to contact GhostCorps and get an affidavit or something and then ASCAP would drop the case.

So realistically, no-one is going to get in trouble let alone the organisers, but I understand that they see a potential bad situation and are being paranoid in saying no, rather than actually getting you the right answer.

But again, this is all personal opinion based on my understanding of how things work here in Canada. I hope I don't come off as being ignorant of you mentioning specifically that they said no, I just think their wrong to have said no because reasons above. I also have a bad habit of explaining a point, then re-explaining it and I'm sorry if I've done that, too. LOL

Although, depending on how much time you have, you might be able to get in touch with GhostCorps in advance and see what they say about it. If they say you're free to use their material then just print off that email chain and bring it with you; if anyone gives you grief, just show them the email.

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