Judge: Mobile Phone Ringtones are Not Concerts

A federal judge has dismissed the music industry contention that when a cell phone’s ringtone begins playing, copyright infringement starts happening since others can hear the song, essentially arguing that a mobile phone is a portable concert hall. That argument meant that millions of mobile phone users were copyright scofflaws anytime anyone called them. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, known as ASCAP, was attempting to wring even more royalties from music-lovers, which already pays ringtone royalties when they buy ringtones.  Additionally, ASCAP collects royalty payments for public performances of songs from venues as divergent as a summer camp and a stadium.

See more here:
Judge: Mobile Phone Ringtones are Not Concerts

You might also like

Judge: ringtones aren’t performances, so no royalties If you have been blessing everyone around you with cell phone "performances" of Beyoncé's "Single Ladies,"...

JUDGE: Ringtone Not a Public Performance American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) had sued Verizon Wireless demanding that...

Judge says warrant required for cell phone location data In recent years, the courts have struggled to decide whether the government needs a warrant to access...

EFF Slams ASCAP’s Proposed Ringtone Performance Tax Says ridiculous that that each time a phone rings in a public place, the phone user has violated copyright...

Tags: ascap, cell, concerts, contention, copyrights and patents, electronic, federal, intellectual property, judge, mobile-revenue, music