A few legal questions

[Seopril]

Hey everyone,
I was just wondering about some of the legal aspects of being a DJ. I'm assuming that in most venues (at least where I would be playing) won't pay for royalties on the songs. How do I pay royalties on the music I'd be playing? Also, if I DJ just a few times a year, will I need any sort of license, whether it is a business license or any other type? I'm completely new to DJing, and I'm getting the equipment this weekend, so I just wanted to figure all of this out before hand.

Thanks for the help!

[Gareth]

I can't speak for countries other than the UK, but here in Blighty we have something called PRS (Performing Right Society) which charges venues a fee for the right to play music, and shares the receipts amongst its members, i.e. the musicians. I've always understood it's the responsibility of the venue owner to pay for the PRS licence, not the DJ or performing artists... but IANAL so don't quote me on that ;)

[Subprime]

I wouldn't worry about it tbh. Likelihood of you getting called out on this is next to nothing. In the UK we have the PRS thing about (which most places seem to have, and as far as I'm aware there is some minimal enforcement), but we also have a licence you are meant to own if you are playing music you transferred from one format to another (i.e Beatport to CD). Never met a single person who has paid the fee.

[jazzyj]

The Copyright powers that be in America do not issue such licenses to DJ's - only venues. It is the venues responsibility to get the license and ensure what is being played in their venue is properly licensed.

That doesn't mean you're off the hook entirely; but, I have inquired before to ASCAP n them, and they will not issue a license to an individual DJ.

I really don't have an issue because 99% of my events are private and therefore not subject to those licensing issues. But public places such as clubs are subject, and the club is supposed to ensure they have the licensing.

[Sigma]

The UK licensing situation is a joke.

The venue needs a license in order to put on entertainment for the public and that also covers DJs that play vinyl or original CDs. That's understandable and I have no issue with that.

If you are a digital DJ playing MP3s you have to pay for a personal license. That starts at £300 per year and for that you can have up to 5,000 songs with you, but they must be on a hard drive, flash drive or digital music player such as an iPod (so you can't burn CDRs for CDJs), you cannot edit any of the tracks or make your own pre-made mashups, and you cannot even record your own live set even if it's solely for your own use.

Why digital DJs are singled out like this I don't know, cos it's total and utter bollocks. It's basically like saying "you can pirate MP3s, so regardless of whether you've bought all of your music, you will pay this fee to compensate for the ones that haven't" and the pirates are probably the least likely to cough up for the license anyway.

[Liam]

The legal situation over here is a total mess. But most venues will pay for the PRS license but some will try and get you to fork out.

One of the main reasons i turned down a residency at a big up and coming club was i had to take my own gear and pay my own PRS..

[Gareth]

Oh wow... didn't realise there was stuff in addition to the PRS licence. Thanks for the info, guys. Useful to know.