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A Must Read: Are You Pirating Music?

song. That includes playing them – or allowing
Does your leasing or sales center ever have music others to play them on CDs, mp3 players, computers
playing in the common areas? Is there music playing and other devices – in a public setting.
over a speaker system at the pool, the community Of course, performers aren’t going to go to every
room, the fitness center or the coffee bar? single venue where their song might be performed
If you don’t have the rights to play this music, you publicly to demand royalties. They hire someone
may be fined for piracy. to do that. These independent performers’ rights
This issue found its way to NAHB’s legal team when organizations (PROs) look for venues where music
a Multifamily Council member was contacted by a might be expected to be played publicly, and check
company that asserted the member’s community them out.
was violating copyright law by using music without If they find that music by one of the performers they
permission by the owner – that is, the musician – and represent is being played without a license, they send
then insisted that the member buy a license to be a letter to the person in charge to demand that the
able to do that legally. The member wasn’t sure if the venue purchase a public performance license. Not
letter was legitimate, so he asked NAHB’s lawyers to responding to such a letter promptly is likely to result
look into it. in further enforcement action by the PRO.
After much research, the member now has an There are three major PROs, each covering a different
answer. group of performers. A license allows a venue to play
Most music is protected by copyright law, music by one of the groups of artists. Many venues
and the use of a song or recording without the buy all three licenses, to be on the safe side.
owner’s permission could be considered copyright Another approach is to pay for a subscription-
infringement. One of the copyright holder’s rights is based service that has all the appropriate licenses.
to prohibit others from “publicly performing” their NAHB MAR 2018

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APRIL 2018 | GREATER SAN ANTONIO BUILDERS ASSOCIATION 17