JUDGE: Ringtone Not a Public Performance

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) had sued Verizon Wireless demanding that it be compensated each time a person’s ringtone played in public, calling it a “public performance.” Back in June it was first mentioned here how the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) had begun suing mobile telephone companies with the argument that the playback of ringtones on a customer’s phone requires a public performance license, and that without one they are committing copyright infringement. “When a ringtone rings in ‘public,’ it is undeniably a “public performance” as those terms are defined in the Copyright Act,” reads a brief submitted to the court. Even further startling is that it argued that they are a public performance even if it’s switched to vibrate, turned off, or located at home.

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JUDGE: Ringtone Not a Public Performance

Related posts:

1. EFF Slams ASCAP’s Proposed Ringtone Performance Tax
2. Ringing up cash: ASCAP suing AT&T for ringtone “performance”
3. Judge: ringtones aren’t performances, so no royalties
4. Judge: Mobile Phone Ringtones are Not Concerts

Tags: being-performed, compensation, composers, district-judge, from-the-phone, judge-denise, performance, phone, publishers, society, verizon