On Fri, Sep 24, 1999 at 08:18:57AM +1000, Roger Buck wrote:
> One thing that may be a problem is the "legal issue" you mentioned. What
> is the problem... and is it an International or US issue... (any simple
> explanation and\or links on this one)?
Roger,
I'm not a lawyer, so this isn't legal advice, but...
My understanding is that, under US law (which we here at
EMusic/Obs/FreeAmp are under), an "interactive" service has to pay a
licensing fee to all artists whose music it plays. Essentially, if we
set up a demo server, we'd have to pay the musicians every time
someone listened to a song. Since Obs lets you decide what comes
next, it is, by definition, interactive.
This is seperate from most web radio stations, which are NON
interactive. If you've ever wondered why people like Wired Planet
don't let you decide what you want to hear next - that's why.
I have no idea was Australian law is like on that one, of course.
And, if it became neccessary, we could, in theory, record our own
sample MP3s (Rob and Elrod signing, maybe ;) and set up a demo
server. But I think everyone would agree it would be best if we could
avoid that. :)
Brett
