BleepingComputer.com: Jukebox

I am thinking of creating a webpage that's sole purpose is to play music. I have a flash player at the moment that reads a playlist (xml file) that is generated via php accessing my mySQL database.

That's a mouthful!

What legal issues are there as to what content i can play? The files are stored on the server but are not avaliable for download, and the file paths can't be "guessed" as it's stored in the database.

Would i need a broadcasting license (im in australia)?

I have read somewhere that as i'm not offering the files to be downloaded, and not making a profit from the website, i don't need to worry about a license, where others say i'm like a radio station and therefore need a broadcasting license.

If i do put adds on the site, and "make a profit" from them, would that change my licensing issue as i still wouldn't be making a profit from selling the music.

Musicians get residuals when radio stations play their music, and radio stations are supported by advertisements. They do not offer music for download. In the United States, the FCC regulates radio stations. I would assume the same mechanism exists in Australia. How is what you are proposing any different?

Check out actual reputable websites for your information, preferably ones that are provided by the government.

That's exactly what i was saying, i've look at some website's (.gov's) it's a mixed bag really, some say i need a license others don't.

Mine is a little different as there is no profit from the site or the music, totally non for profit, i've read on some of the websites mentioned above, i don't need a license unless i'm making money of it.

Still no definative answer!

Ok, so here is a tangential question,. Is it ok to steal from others if you have no intention of making any money from it? I don't know what the laws are in Australia, but if you did that here and were caught, you would be in big trouble. Whether or not you make money off the venture is completely irrelevant. If I steal something, it is a crime, regardless if I profit. If I use something that someone wrote, it is plagiarism, regardless of whether or not I profited from it.

Apparently the jurisdiction lies in the Australian Broadcasting Authority. Instead of guessing, wouldn't it just be smarter to send them an email and ask?

I will get onto that now, some of those .gov sites were saying, as you are allowed to make a back-up of your cd's, really all i am doing is ripping my CD's, and placing them into a database where i can get them from online.

I guess i will find out when i hear back from the Australian Broadcasting Authority.

Fantastic! When you do, please share.

Backing up a copy of your CD is one thing. Allowing others to listen to it is different.

Haven't heard back from them as of this moment. Looking to give them a call later on today.

the following may not be totally according to this topic, but might be helpfull. I'm sure there is certain music, which you are allowed to let other listen. These are mostly independant musicians, who want people to spread there music, as advertisement (as they want to become more popular). I've had this same problem with my (music-)podcast, I decided to only upload music i made myself, or of which i was sure i was allowed to (and therefore not abusing the law). One great site which stores tons of this music is Garageband.com.

No luck getting in contact with them, i have decided to drop the project...

Let me know if anyone else has any luck!

Hey, I did some research on this some time ago. It should not be legal in general, because you need to pay for playing the music to the artists. If it is music for private use, why would you make it public? But even if you have to pay to the association of music authors, this might not be much. So the best for you is to call the Australian authority in charge of those rights and ask them per phone. Public agencies are usually bad in answering e-mails.

Even if you do not want to go on with the project, please do call them, because we are all keen to know the outcome

I was also thinking that after some 30 years the rights might be dropped, so old tracks could be free to broadcast.

patbox, on May 6 2009, 12:19 PM, said:

I'm not making it public, i'm placing it online on my webpage where you have to log in to be able to listen to it (controlled with PHP)

patbox, on May 6 2009, 12:19 PM, said:

KamakaZ, on Apr 28 2009, 01:26 PM, said:

Why would i call them *AGAIN* if i've dropped the project? It would be a waste of time. If anyone else is interested, YOU call and post the response.

patbox, on May 6 2009, 12:19 PM, said:

This is a good point, i vaguely remember seeing something like this somewhere, the problem is, the music i have i 0-5 years old.

This post has been edited by KamakaZ: 05 May 2009 - 10:36 PM

Quote

To have this mystery solved

be my guest...

Lol shoudl I call the authority to solve this? I guess someone has to do it, to make this topic worth while.

just wondering if "this topic is worth while yet"?

also, how are you planning on contacting the "Australian Broadcasting Authority" from germany?

This post has been edited by KamakaZ: 13 May 2009 - 01:15 AM