kateh

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and the following statement is in no way intended to be legal advise to anyone:

We have a lawyer in our band. He's not involved in entertainment law, but he gets answers whenver something questionable comes up. Here is what I've come to believe on this topic. Basically, if you're playing in a business establishment as entertainment, and if that establishment is making money while you play, whether they pay you or not, it's usually the business establishment's responsibility to pay royalties. The vast majority of small restaurants and bars that have live bands never pay the royalties unless a rep from the music industry persues them. Now, if you want to record someone else's music, you open an entirely different can of worms. Most songs attributed to that very prolific writer, "Traditional" are in public domain and can be recorded, in general. But before recording anything for distribution, I would consult a music industry lawyer and make sure you're not infringing on any copyrights. Those lawsuits can get hairy, even among us friendly bluegrbutt folks. If this is wildly inaccurate, I'd appreciate input-correction from those who know for sure. Vince