Re: Rights to music at sports events

In response to David Ginsberg's posting, using the recorded music in connection with an athletic event would appear to infringe the composer's exclusive right of public performance, whether the event is a neighborhood show or a larger event. You need to contact ASCAP or BMI -- one or the other of them presumably licenses the music at issue. The organizer probably could be liable under a vicarious liability theory or contributory infringement theory, so it's probably in the organizer's interest to get the license. There is no public performance right for sound recordings, with the exception of digital transmissions, so as far as the copyright laws are concerned if you're just performing CDs you don't need to get the permission of the owner of the copyright to the CD (which would probably be the producer of the CD). If the event is recorded on videotape, then it would seem to me that you're making an unauthorized copy of the sound recording and the musical composition, arguably infringing two sets of rights.

Thomas F. Cotter
Assistant Professor of Law
University of Florida College of Law
Gainesville, Florida 32611-7625
(352) 392-2235 (office)
(352) 392-3005 (fax)

cotter[_at_]law.ufl.edu Received on Tue Apr 29 1997 - 16:55:58 GMT