>From the "If a tree falls in the forest..." Department: ________________________________ AT&T and ASCAP are locked in a titanic battle about whether musical ringtones must be licensed for public performance. In their brief, filed last week, ASCAP makes some truly breathtaking arguments.
Such as: "When an AT&T ringtone plays in public, there is no question that it falls under clause (1) of the definition of "to perform publicly." The phone is on AT&T's network, and AT&T controls the entire series of steps that allow and trigger the player to perform the performance. That is a direct infringement under the Copyright Act." "There is thus no question that the performances that AT&T causes are "public," regardless of whether some customers' phones may sometimes be switched to vibrate, turned off, or located in the home. ... It need only be "capable" of being performed to the public; whether the ringtone is set to play, and indeed whether anyone hears it, is of no moment." ASCAP's entire brief here: <http://files.me.com/fvl/an3drn> ________________________________
