{"id":19066,"date":"2016-05-17T00:04:11","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T07:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/?p=19066"},"modified":"2016-05-18T15:40:50","modified_gmt":"2016-05-18T22:40:50","slug":"using-copyrighted-music-in-radio-commercials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/using-copyrighted-music-in-radio-commercials\/","title":{"rendered":"Meghan Trainor Slams Michigan Radio Station"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"radio<\/a><\/p>\n

The wheels of justice grind slowly, but recently they reached a Michigan radio station that thought, “So what if we’re breaking the law? They’ll never know.”<\/span><\/p>\n

An advertiser wanted them to run a commercial for a local burger joint, complete with their own rewrite of a Meghan Trainor<\/strong> song<\/a>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The station management either didn’t realize that by running that spot they’d be violating the song’s copyright<\/a>…<\/span>
\n…or they knew and didn’t care. After all, someone was offering to pay them.<\/span><\/p>\n

And who would know?<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the market’s radio stations (“Station A”) refused to air the radio advertisement, explaining to the client, “Sorry, but that would be illegal. You can’t use a copyrighted song in a commercial that way.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Station B, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate to accept the advertiser’s money.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently Station B received a Cease and Desist order from Sony Music.<\/span><\/p>\n

Station B Was Lucky.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Sony could’ve sued them for damages, rather than just tell the radio station to stop.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s How Station B Probably Reacted to the C&D Order.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Powers That Be at Station B said, “Hey, we got paid. The money we made was worth more than a lousy C&D order.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s How Station A<\/span> Could<\/em> React.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Account Exec:<\/strong> I’m sorry, but using that song in your commercial would be illegal. It would violate the owner’s copyright.<\/span><\/p>\n

Client:<\/strong> But Station B played that commercial with the Meghan Trainor song…<\/span><\/p>\n

Account Exec:<\/strong> Yes, they did. And they were lucky. When Sony Music found out, they fired off a Cease and Desist order to Station B.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Sony could just as easily have sued both the radio station and the advertiser for copyright infringement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because that commercial unquestionably constituted an illegal infringement, they each could have ended up paying 5-figure settlements.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having to write a 5-figure penalty check probably would hurt a local small business, don’t you think?<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to causing financial damage to Station B \u2014 which obviously needs the money in the first place, or they wouldn’t have agreed to help the advertiser break the law \u2014 it also might raise an eyebrow with the Federal Communications Commission.<\/span><\/p>\n

The FCC considers “the citizenship, character, and financial, technical and other qualifications…to operate the station” when license renewal time rolls around.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here at Station A, we’re dedicated to helping our advertisers accomplish their goals. But we won’t break the law for them, because it could hurt us, it could hurt them, it violates our own principles…and we don’t need to cheat in order to succeed.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The wheels of justice grind slowly, but recently they reached a Michigan radio station that thought, “So what if we’re breaking the law? They’ll never know.” An advertiser wanted them to run a commercial for a local burger joint, complete with their own rewrite of a Meghan Trainor song. \u00a0 The station management either didn’t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"yoast_head":"\nMeghan Trainor Slams Michigan Radio Station<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/using-copyrighted-music-in-radio-commercials\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meghan Trainor Slams Michigan Radio Station\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The wheels of justice grind slowly, but recently they reached a Michigan radio station that thought, “So what if we’re breaking the law? 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