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Small Dance Party--Do I require a license?
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| 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. |
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| woscar99 |
| 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. |
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| phantom limb |
| LOL. Is it really that simple? Jesus, my friends and I were freaking out because we thought we needed a license. |
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| woscar99 |
| 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. |
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| inconspicuous |
| license? no. additional pylons? yes. |
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| TaylorR |
| quote: | Originally posted by inconspicuous
additional pylons? yes. |
good thinking! :tongue2
always ran into that problem :( |
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| david.michael |
| quote: | Originally posted by TaylorR
good thinking! :tongue2
always ran into that problem :( |
Not me, but I usually played Terran. ;) |
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| Zoso |
| Damned Terrans with their siege tanks just out of range of your photon cannons! :whip: |
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| david.michael |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zoso
Damned Terrans with their siege tanks just out of range of your photon cannons! :whip: |
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... |
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| Ray_Chappell |
| 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. |
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| Dojomaster26 |
| 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... |
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| phantom limb |
| 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. :) :D :) |
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