From: AMuse
<amuse@foofus.com>
To: MCBR
Leadership <leadershipgroup@mickaboo.org>
Sent: Wed,
October 13, 2010 9:49:53 AM
Subject:
[Leadershipgroup] Proofread of an email please? :)
Hi all!
I contacted BMI this year to ask about a nonprofit license
to play recorded music at our holiday party, as a backup
plan in case Mal's band cannot play. They sent me a quote
for $211, which I told their license person was probably too
expensive for us to pay.
This morning an 'executive' of licensing called me back to
hard-pressure me into paying the fee, insinuating legal
threats and auditing our party. They also said that having
live musicians still requires the license, even if they play
music of their own composition or public domain music (which
I a 99% sure is untrue).
Here is my reply to his follow-up email with a second quote,
for $211, for our 4-hour party.
Please let me know if you think this is an out of line
response, as I am very annoyed right now. Otherwise I'd
like to send it.
========================
Michael: I appreciate your concern for our legal
well-being.
You have offered us a license fee of $211
minimum
as a "Music promoter" for a 4-hour Christmas party. We are
a nonprofit volunteer bird rescue, not a music promoter or
bar/restaurant owner. $211 is more than enough to save a
parrot from euthanasia at a shelter. Our board and
volunteers cannot fathom spending that much simply to have
recorded music at our party.
We will find a musician to play live music of their own
composition (or public domain) at our party, or we will do
without music entirely (and a drab party that will be!). If
you had some price that we could reasonably afford, such as
$20 or $40, we would be happy to pay it.
Aside from the above facts, I am very disappointed that
after I pointed out our concerns on the phone, you chose to
lecture me on the finer points of copyright law. On behalf
of our rescue, I
wanted to be proactive and keep us
on the right side of the law, which is why I contacted you
in the first place. At this point, I feel that I contacted
BMI in good faith and was instead insulted and threatened.
If this is how you choose to do business with everyone, I
can easily see why the music industry has a music piracy
problem.
--Matt
========================