Howdy folks, got a question about podcasts. Whats the legality behind them? Do you have to pay royalties to the band, or ask their permission to play their music? How is it different to a radio show, and what makes it different to illegally sharing music?

Legal Guide For Podcasting

The above link will get you started. However, I will illustrate the basic rules I go by for my own podcast, "The Master's Metal".

1. I play exclusively unsigned and independent artists who are not under the umbrella of the RIAA.

2. The only exception at this time is Tooth & Nail/Solid State/BEC who have given Untombed Radio permission to play releases covered under their labels. This also applies to podcasts associated with Untombed Radio.

3. I receive verbal and/or written permission from the artists and/or labels to place their content in my podcast recordings.

4. I play no more that one track per release per hour.

5. I play no more than 1/3 of the tracks included on each release.

6. I provide my podcast free of charge and operate as non-profit/non-commercial.

7. I discourage audio piracy and advocate legal purchasing methods.

8. I provide the track title, artist name and label affiliation.

9. I provide means of contact for the audience and included artists and/or labels.

10. I archive podcasts for no longer than six weeks.

These are all basic media rights laws that I follow to the letter.

I was informed a couple of weeks ago by James M. that we received permission from Tooth & Nail/Solid State/BEC for the broadcasts and associated podcasts. I believe it was through Dale speaking to them at Cornerstone 2010?

I already received permissions from Facedown, Strike First, Sancrosanct, BombWorks, Retroactive, Soundmass, NH, Ulterium, Rivel, Nightmare, NePlusUltra, Bullroser, Roxx, Sullen, Open Grave, DMD and etc. Some of them were verbal, some were written via email or private message.

I was originally play most of the Facedown bands on my "Brutal" show...but...I caught a LOT of flack for placing too much emphasis on "Core" bands (as "Brutal" is usually restricted to Death and Unblack). I still sneak a few "Core" tracks in each episode for variety.

Must've been hard getting NePlusUltra, Sullen & Open Grave since I've heard they can be a real pain in the @$$

If anyone cares, Project Damage Control is registered with BMI, but we are not going to nickel and dime people for mechanicals on the net, especially when the audiences for this niche market are what they are. If anyone wants to play it, go for it, just let us know about it.

BTW, here is a good link.

http://www.broadcastlawblog.com/2010/03/articles/music-rights/the-basics-of-music-licensing-in-digital-media-videos-podcasts-commercials-downloads-fair-use-what-questions-should-you-be-asking/

damn.. someone tell the Russians about this.. and the Iranians.. and the South Americans.. and everybody.

Our musik always ends up on file sharing programs before it even comes out.. BUT this time it's really nuts.. especially since a shipment of cd's to Whirl Wind got jacked or sold.. and never showed up at it's destination.

Look at this shiite, our new EP got Pirated so fast, it's like Jack Sparrow himself was on the job!

The only saving grace really is that the pirated versions usually sound like complete crap.

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http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=39&ved=0CC8QFjAIOB4&url=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.krwetatnt.net%2Fthread318664.html&ei=ayNSTNWrGYL68AaWvID_BA&usg=AFQjCNFME0MZ-iKs1sO7d5vyx9ym3gahvw

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CBwQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rapidsharezone.net%2Fenglish-mp3-music-videos%2F26343-opus-majestic-ewiges-licht-mcdr-2010-berc.html&ei=viFSTNixJYH-8Aa70Y2nBA&usg=AFQjCNGtqqok_PQhM6DatUE-Qkj1SNj1OA

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CCUQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.phazeblog.com%2Fopus-majestic-ewiges-licht-2010%2F&ei=viFSTNixJYH-8Aa70Y2nBA&usg=AFQjCNG7HpRvZ6UNzuJE_jJ4zFH8asWugg

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CCgQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.softsclub.com%2Fmusic%2F361721-opus-majestic-ewiges-licht-mcdr-2010-berc.html&ei=viFSTNixJYH-8Aa70Y2nBA&usg=AFQjCNEm04jlHdzV4HfXjrUlCcbgFEcobQ

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=17&ved=0CCgQFjAGOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsharedmusic.net%2Fopus-majestic-ewiges-licht-ep-2010--depositfiles.com.html&ei=yiJSTJjFJYOB8gbR5MSzAw&usg=AFQjCNHEm_Qj8ZE4vQ9RJYsmdw8y1kzriw

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=14&ved=0CB8QFjADOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.releasehour.com%2Fforums%2Fmusic%2F174308-opus-majestic-ewiges-licht-mcdr-2010-berc.html&ei=yiJSTJjFJYOB8gbR5MSzAw&usg=AFQjCNHidqEGjisrqC5vt-gi1Vye2KfoyA

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=20&ved=0CDIQFjAJOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.warezlobby.org%2Fmusic%2F1489791-opus-majestic-ewiges-licht-mcdr-2010-berc.html&ei=yiJSTJjFJYOB8gbR5MSzAw&usg=AFQjCNEHSuhhl2pYe3TP7ddTyf0G2Ndyag

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=53&ved=0CBcQFjACODI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tipete.com%2Fuserpost%2Fdescargas-gratis%2Fopus-majestic-ewiges-licht-mcdr-2010-berc-0&ei=3CNSTPv5KsP58AaLuIi5BA&usg=AFQjCNH6nbpaK3ajGZRXzMVlQe98G7fwCw

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=59&ved=0CCwQFjAIODI&url=http%3A%2F%2Flastofmusic.com%2Farchive%2F2010-07-25%2F22375-Opus_Majestic-Ewiges_Licht-MCDR-2010-BERC.html&ei=3CNSTPv5KsP58AaLuIi5BA&usg=AFQjCNFHIrNaiwoIzL0gDxVSSXa7SKV9Hg


http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=65&ved=0CCQQFjAEODw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fxilugulou.blogbus.com%2Flogs%2F70351922.html&ei=lyRSTO2_N8z9nQfov9CJBA&usg=AFQjCNGloQiQMKxP7626yMP-S9xVe8FEBQ

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=85&ved=0CCIQFjAEOFA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forums.bia2metal.com%2Fshowthread.php%3Fgoto%3Dnewpost%26t%3D7352&ei=CCVSTKf5FY3-nAe66uyVBA&usg=AFQjCNFjmU7dtq4gQpsUiHFckaS84lgFyg

Welsome to the "new business model" which is...nobody gets paid for music because music is free.

As I said in my original post, there are a LOT of small details in concern to the laws with Podcasting. There are a lot of laws written in "legalese" that only a lawyer can understand as well.

I know that in the case of The Master's Metal (Me), Metal Blessing (Blake) and Full Armor of God (Kuba) we are actually covered under our respective radio stations as being "archived broadcasts". All three of us are broadcast on stations which are legally free to play RIAA artists (Metal Blessing Radio, Fuel Radio and Refinery Radio). We are allowed to archive our shows in podcast form for a limited amount of time (six weeks).

If you stick to playing only independent and unsigned artists (with their permission, of course) then you can post the podcasts without these restrictions. This is the road I usually take anyway...the only two bands RIAA I have played in the past have been Living Sacrifice and Soul Embraced. The rest of those T&N/SS/BEC artists aren't going to fit into my Heavy and Brutal Podcasts, so, it isn't a big deal either way for me personally. /shrug

I went nuts back six months ago with reading through hundreds of pages of laws regarding this topic. I actually appreciate that this restrictions forced me to look further for more Metal and I ended up discovering some awesome new music in the process that I would not have known otherwise!

Thanks for this info. I had been wondering the same thing myself.