subject: Music License Agreement - Knowing Your Rights [print this page] The internet has made the world so much simpler in many ways but in others, things have gotten quite difficult mainly where control is concerned. There are many examples of this. For one thing, sadly the internet has paved the way for paedophiles to share and distribute pornographic images of young and innocent children. It has also made it easier for sex offenders to prey on potential victims. There are other less serious examples of course too.
Think of the way the world of music has been affected by the advent of the internet. Easier still, think about how the concept of Napster revolutionized the way people thought about and shared their music files. The Napster technology made it unbelievably easy for people around the world to share with each other music files of all types and sorts and genres for free. It was such a simple and fantastic concept. But while it benefited music lovers all over the world, the music makers, that is, the singers and the artists who produced and recorded that music lost out on their hard earned royalties this way because nobody paid for their music anymore. Napster was eventually shut down and later became a paying service but numerous other similarly inspired technological programs have cropped up now that still let illegal file-sharing take place under the nose of the authorities. It is here where the concept of the music license agreement comes into play.
Many people are very unaware of how just simple it is to get the proper copyright issues dealt with, and just how quickly it can all be done. A music license agreement is basically needed so that you can use any music in your possession legally. Take a simple example. You may not think of it this way but if you buy a music CD from any store, then what you have really bought is a music license agreement that you will use that CD for your own listening pleasure. The fact is that you cannot legally broadcast any music on that CD in any form or have it reproduced either. This is why there are so many campaigns against pirated music CDs. With pirated property, there are no laws to abide by and you are free to do with the music anything at all that you wish.
If you want to use any type of music for purposes of some business, then you are required by law to buy into a music license agreement. You will of course be obliged to pay a fee in order to obtain the needed license and you may also be required to state just exactly how you intend to use the music for which you are buying the license. Keep in mind though that you don't suddenly own copyrights to that music, just a few rights and that too for a stated period of time. You can also choose between buying an exclusive music license agreement or a non exclusive one; whatever suits your preferences.
