“Ringtones Are Not Concerts” - Federal Judge
Clearly, the ASCP - t
hat is the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, must think of ringtones as “wring-tones” or the best way to wring the last nickel or dime of royalty from cell phone ringtones ! Their plans to convert your mobile phone into a perpetual ATM machine for its members were quashed today : a Federal judge ruled today in favor of the millions – actually billions of consumers who download and play ringtones on their cell phones, sparing them from paying a royalty to ASCP every time their phone rings.
Clearly they were not satisfied with the royalty payments that the ASCAP already collects on behalf of its members for any public performance of songs or music – from arenas and stadiums to your kid’s summer camps and the royalty payments that all Verizon, AT&T and all cell phone carriers pay whenever you download a ringtone.
So they decided to file a lawsuit against Verizon and AT&T in a New York federal court claiming copyright infringement every time a cellphone’s ringtone begins playing, since others can hear the song. In other words their contention is that a mobile phone is a portable concert hall every time it rings and plays a ringtone !
While the argument is ridiculous and violates common sense and was considered a long shot at best , can you imagine the ensuing chaos had this group actually prevailed in convincing the judge ? It would have meant that the millions of cellphone users would have been violating federal copyright law every time anyone called them ! Can you also imagine the ASCP rubbing its hands in glee at the prospect of the millions of nickels, dimes and quarters pouring into their coffers in a veritable flood of royalty payments – cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching….. ?
Incidentally, their lawsuit was also hoping to double their current fixed royalty payments from $0.24 to $0.48 for each ringtone purchased by Verizon, AT&T and others. The judge threw out that request as well.
An attorney for the EFF – Electronic Frontier Foundation, stated that it was an “important victory for consumers, making it clear that playing music in public, when done without any commercial purpose, does not infringe copyright”
