In their unending pursuit to sue two of every last living thing on Earth, the American Society of Composer, Authors, and Publishers have filed a complaint against AT&T in a court of law.
If the name sounds familiar, it’s because these were the same people that famously went after pig-tailed Girl Scouts’ hard earned Thin Mints cookie money for their supposed copyright infringement during campfire sing-alongs.
ASCAP believes wholeheartedly that each of the major mobile phone carriers owe them money for previous “public performances” of their music or in other words for every time your cell phone goes off in a crowded area.
“Ringtones, which result from a number of different initial or intermediary transmissions, ultimately always result in a performance to the public as that term is used in the Copyright Act,” overpaid ASCAP lawyers wrote in their legal brief.
Unless ASCAP and its lobbyist happen to bribe the presiding judge, these completely unsubstantiated claims will mostly likely be dismissed.
Tags: ASCAP, AT&T, Frivolous Lawsuit, Girl Scouts, Thin Mints
Interesting Article. Thanks!
A while back John Cage went after Mike Batt for having a track of silence (shorter than his silent track!) – if these idiots are allowed to triumph, we’ll find they have copyrighted individual notes, from A, B flat, C, etc ….
If people aren’t making a profit, or transmitting good quality audio, it’s free advertising for the real piece of music – like a tribute band you see at a local pub that gets you into eg Led Zep or some other proper band. I listen to a lot of partial tracks, or even whole albums, on CDs from the library – then buy a copy if I like it – even though I am capable in practical terms of copying the CD digitally.
For heaven’s sake, I spend thousands a year on genuine CDs and DVDs I could illegally copy for a few pence – often after hearing an artist on a technically illegal web radio station or (poor bit-rate) mp3 dowload – and I suspect most other people that do this also buy genuine copies, once they have heard and discarded the dross and poor tracks that seem to pack some artist#s albums – naming no names….
I really liked your blog!
Does anyone know of anyone WINNING a lawsiut initiated by ASCAP? How far do they go before actually filing a suit?