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Small Dance Party--Do I require a license?

Hey All,

I am a DJ hobbyist and plan to DJ a small dance party for some of my friends for their fraternity. The party will held in a public space, which we are renting on the college campus. I plan to just DJ from my laptop with Traktor with a bunch of files ranging from dance, hip-hop, and rock music. I do not own a license of any sort and am curious if I need one in order to play. There are no door fees or charges for the dance. Could you guys please inform me as to what are the legal implications here in the USA? Do I have to get a license with ASCAP or the RIAA or something? I would appreciate your responses. Thank you.

Re: Small Dance Party--Do I require a license?

quote:

Originally posted by phantom limb Hey All, I am a DJ hobbyist and plan to DJ a small dance party for some of my friends for their fraternity. The party will held in a public space, which we are renting on the college campus. I plan to just DJ from my laptop with Traktor with a bunch of files ranging from dance, hip-hop, and rock music. I do not own a license of any sort and am curious if I need one in order to play. There are no door fees or charges for the dance. Could you guys please inform me as to what are the legal implications here in the USA? Do I have to get a license with ASCAP or the RIAA or something? I would appreciate your responses. Thank you.

In short, no.

LOL. Is it really that simple? Jesus, my friends and I were freaking out because we thought we needed a license.

quote:

Originally posted by phantom limb LOL. Is it really that simple? Jesus, my friends and I were freaking out because we thought we needed a license.

Yeah, it's really that simple It wouldn't even matter if you were charging people to go to the party or not.

license? no. additional pylons? yes.

quote:

Originally posted by inconspicuous additional pylons? yes.

good thinking!
always ran into that problem

quote:

Originally posted by TaylorR good thinking! always ran into that problem

Not me, but I usually played Terran.

Damned Terrans with their siege tanks just out of range of your photon cannons!

quote:

Originally posted by Zoso Damned Terrans with their siege tanks just out of range of your photon cannons!

Yup, that's the way to do it... have a row in front in siege mode, and have a row of tanks move in front of them, take them out of siege mode, move the old line forward, and continue this process until those damned photon cannons were out of the way!

But, I digress...

quote:

Originally posted by phantom limb LOL. Is it really that simple? Jesus, my friends and I were freaking out because we thought we needed a license.

You are taking legal advice on a city ordinance from someone that states they are from/in Guatemala.

There's no one answer for this. Every city has different ordinances and they are the ones that will cause you trouble.

And yes it does matter if you are charging for admission - do you have a sales tax? Then you may need to be paying it. (I know this from experience as a promoter and was forced to get a tax id, register admission, etc. - although it was bigger than a house party).

If the party is truly in the public - like a public park or something - you may run into trouble. It depends on the crowd, the city, etc. though and someone local would be a much better help. Check with a local promoter.

quote:

Originally posted by Ray_Chappell You are taking legal advice on a city ordinance from someone that states they are from/in Guatemala. There's no one answer for this. Every city has different ordinances and they are the ones that will cause you trouble. And yes it does matter if you are charging for admission - do you have a sales tax? Then you may need to be paying it. (I know this from experience as a promoter and was forced to get a tax id, register admission, etc. - although it was bigger than a house party). If the party is truly in the public - like a public park or something - you may run into trouble. It depends on the crowd, the city, etc. though and someone local would be a much better help. Check with a local promoter.

tl;dr : Go to your local city hall and find out what the law is. Its better to know if your area has some crazy "RAVE-act" law before you do this event...

quote:

Originally posted by Ray_Chappell You are taking legal advice on a city ordinance from someone that states they are from/in Guatemala. There's no one answer for this. Every city has different ordinances and they are the ones that will cause you trouble. And yes it does matter if you are charging for admission - do you have a sales tax? Then you may need to be paying it. (I know this from experience as a promoter and was forced to get a tax id, register admission, etc. - although it was bigger than a house party). If the party is truly in the public - like a public park or something - you may run into trouble. It depends on the crowd, the city, etc. though and someone local would be a much better help. Check with a local promoter.

Excellent advice. I will pursue it further with the city. Thank you for taking the time to do this. Very thoughtful on your part.

quote:

Originally posted by Dojomaster26 tl;dr : Go to your local city hall and find out what the law is. Its better to know if your area has some crazy "RAVE-act" law before you do this event...

Actually, I'm in Ohio and I think it has something along those lines of a crazy "Rave act." I will definitely look into it. Thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by woscar99 Yeah, it's really that simple It wouldn't even matter if you were charging people to go to the party or not.

false. Clubs need to pay liscense fees to play music. To the Op you should be fine..i doubt the riaa will bust you .

quote:

Originally posted by elFreak false. Clubs need to pay liscense fees to play music. To the Op you should be fine..i doubt the riaa will bust you .

That's partly why a lot of promoters are working with clubs to hold events, since all of the potential ASCAP and other licensing issues are taken care of through the venue...

So who the fuck ever is anal enough to sue a small frathouse for a small party??

quote:

Originally posted by whiskers So who the fuck ever is anal enough to sue a small frathouse for a small party??

The same organization that tries to sue 6 year olds for using Kazaa

Seriously, ASCAP agents are hired to scope out new venues and bars, and report back if there are any occurances of ASCAP licensed music being played. The owners of the Funky Night Owls (now closed) in Hickory, NC told me that they received a letter from ASCAP stating to "Get a license or pay fines." A week later the venue had a notice declaring agents from the licensing groups as "trespassing" and threatening to prosecute if they enter the venue.

quote:

Originally posted by phantom limb Actually, I'm in Ohio and I think it has something along those lines of a crazy "Rave act." I will definitely look into it. Thank you.

Where in OH are you throwing an event?

you want to check your local bylaws for a rave act or extended dance event bylaws, then in which case you'll have to adhere to their standards and codes

other than that you should be good to go, normally clubs pay licensing fees to play the music but you should be alright for a small frat party, it's highly doubtful an agent will bother to scope out a party that small, especially if it's a one-off event and not a new club or anything like that where it's going to be a regular thing

it might be a good idea to ask though, most likely when you apply for your liquor license, if there's any licenses needed for music

quote:

Originally posted by phantom limb Excellent advice. I will pursue it further with the city. Thank you for taking the time to do this. Very thoughtful on your part.

tell us what you find out
i had the same question.
i live in Los Angles

quote:

Originally posted by Ray_Chappell You are taking legal advice on a city ordinance from someone that states they are from/in Guatemala. There's no one answer for this. Every city has different ordinances and they are the ones that will cause you trouble. And yes it does matter if you are charging for admission - do you have a sales tax? Then you may need to be paying it. (I know this from experience as a promoter and was forced to get a tax id, register admission, etc. - although it was bigger than a house party). If the party is truly in the public - like a public park or something - you may run into trouble. It depends on the crowd, the city, etc. though and someone local would be a much better help. Check with a local promoter.

Yeah, I'm sure PvD and the likes have a "license" to play in the states. And a different license for every city they play in.

I know about clubs, but small frat parties? Give me a fucking break! You are making the OP worry about nothing, making him waste his precious gas money on trips to City Hall IMO

If you do get busted, I'm sure it will be for hosting a party when/where/how you are not supposed to. THAT'S what the fucking "rave-act" will specify, NOT licensing fees on the music played.

YES YOU DO technically need a license anytime you play music in a public place in the US. but chances are you wont get caught because your event is probably not a major one that would get noticed by industry.

**doesnt matter if it is a free event either - even if youre not making money, you have to get a license to play someone's music publicly

i have done events before - i am not making this up

if it was inside a private residence for friends you would be ok - otherwise you would need a license every time you invited friends over to your house and you have music playing (or in your car!)

if you are planning to go big time & want to be legit, you are usually covered by buying licenses from the big 3: BMI, ASCAP, SESAC ...you pay each of them about $100 per day of your event.

(this assumes your are playing music by artists licensed under those organizations)

have fun!

oh and this applies eveywhere in the US...doesnt matter what city you live in

quote:

Originally posted by phantom limb Actually, I'm in Ohio and I think it has something along those lines of a crazy "Rave act." I will definitely look into it. Thank you.

Where are you in Ohio?

most of your questions answered here:

http://www.ascap.com/licensing/licensingfaq.html

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