Case Study:
Copyright, Songs, and Charities
Children at camps around the country in the summer of 1996 were not able to dance the “Macarena” except in utter silence. Their usual oldies dances were halted in 1996. The American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) notified camps and the organizations that sponsor camps (such as the Boy Scouts of America and the Girls Scouts of the USA) that they would be required to pay the licensing fees if they used any of the 4 million copyrighted songs written or published by any of the 68,000 members of ASCAP. The fees for use of the songs have exceeded the budgets of many of the camps. One camp that operates only during the day charges its campers $44 per week. ASCAP wanted $591 for the season for the camp’s use of songs such as “Edelweiss” (from The Sound of Music) and “This Land Is Your Land.” ASCAP demanded fees for even singing the songs around the campfire. ASCAP’s letters to the camps reminded the directors of the possible penalties of $5,000 and up to six days in jail and threatened lawsuits for any infringement of the rights of ASCAP members. Luckily, “Kumbaya” is not owned by an ASCAP member. Several camp directors wrote and asked for a special program that would allow their camps a discount for the use of the songs. Many of the camps are not run as for-profit businesses, but rather include camps such as those for children with cancer and AIDS. ASCAP now includes the following frequently asked question on its website (Website-ascap): Do I need permission to perform music as part of a presentation in class or at a training seminar? If the performance is part of face to face teaching activity at a non-profit educational institution, permission is not required. Permission is required when music is used as part of training seminars, conventions, or other commercial or business presentations. ASCAP has over 100 licensing fee arrangements. The fees range from $200 to $700 per year, but some organizations have negotiated lower fees. The Radio Music License Committee negotiated a $1.7 billion fee arrangement with ASCAP to cover its members through 2009. In 1999, Congress passed the Fairness in Music Licensing Amendment [17 USC 110 (5)] to provide an exemption for restaurants (such as sports bars) that play radio music or television programs over speakers in their facilities. The law provides that because the radio and television rights have been acquired, restaurants and bars need not pay ASCAP additional fees. ASCAP opposed this change to the copyright laws and has proposed changes to it since 1999. The issue of public use of popular songs and copyrights surfaced after the September 11, 2001, attacks, when Congress stood on the steps of the Capitol on the evening of September 11, 2001, and sang, “God Bless America.” It was a spontaneous moment, and from that time the song became an integral part of all public functions, including the seventh-inning stretch during the World Series. Irving Berlin wrote “God Bless America” in 1940. When he did, he pledged all the royalties from the song to benefit youth organizations in the United States, specifically the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. Each time there is a performance of the song, royalties are paid to the trust fund Berlin established for the administration of the royalties for the Scouts. Since that time, just the groups in New York City have received over $6 million from song performances. The annual income from “God Bless America” public performances has been about $200,000. However, the song has become a sort of second national anthem since the time of the September 11, 2001, attacks, with royalties from public performances generating triple income in 2002. Mr. Berlin died in 1989 at the age of 101, and his daughter, Mrs. Linda Emmett, administers the trust fund. Mrs. Emmett, who shares her father’s commitment to the children of the United States, says that nothing would have pleased her father more than the song’s newfound popularity and the resulting benefits to the Scouts.
Q1. Why does ASCAP work so diligently to enforce its rights and collect the fees for its members’ songs?
Q2. What risks does ASCAP run if the camps continue to use the songs without payment of the licensing fees?
Q3. What ethical and social responsibility issues do you see with respect to those camps that are strictly nonprofit operations?
Q4. Can you think of a compromise that would protect ASCAP members’ rights but still offer the camps a reasonable chance to use the songs?
Q5. What would you do if you were an ASCAP member and owned the rights to a song a camp wished to use? Do you think Mr. Berlin’s trust has the correct approach? Could his trust not simply donate the use of the song? What problems do you see with that practice?
Your answer must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one-inch margins on all sides, APA format and also include references.