Anyone have any idea if it's actually illegal to sell CD's of live perfomances by DJ's. For example, a lot of people sell essential mixes on ebay...Is this against the law or not? What about live perfomances that are not braodcast on radio...Is this different?

The laws surrounding music and copyright really do confuse me. I would appreciate if anyone could clear things up!

Cheers,
S-Punk

when they sell live sets they get away with it because they say they are only charging for cds and their time and effort....


and it is different than radio because they pay to broadcast it...

if i remember it correctly, everything that is broadcasted on the radio is not copyrighted because the station pays the artist and the music is played on public radio. i think something similar applies to live sets at events. but stuff like that is definately not covered by copyright laws

There are different laws in different countries, but in the US it would be illegal to sell a live set that has been broadcast. Radio stations pay fees to ASCAP and BMI which gives them the right to broadcast music that is under copyright. Then ASCAP/BMI distributes money to the artists usually depending on how many spins they get. Clubs, bars, record stores, and health clubs also pay money to these organizations and they can get sued if they don't and they play music under copyright. DJ's can spin tracks at a club or on the radio because the station or the club has paid the fees, so the DJ shouldn't have to worry about infringing upon copyright laws.

If someone were to record a live set from the radio and then sell it, they would be violating copyright law unless they were given a license to sell it.

totally illegal, at least in the UK. all the tracks that are signed that make up the mix are copywrighted, therefore it is illegal.

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