Am I legally OK to stream freely submitted Unsigned bands on my site?

Question

So I came up with this concept to create a collaborative radio broadcast, where anyone can join up and submit content to be added to the play-list. I have had quite a good response already, and am broadcasting freely submitted tunes from unsigned artists. I aim to add interviews and debates soon as well conducted between members. Its looking quite interesting!!

Before this gets any bigger I wanted to ensure that I'm OK legally to do this...I have kept a copy of every e-mail bands have sent me with MP3's attached, so I think this constitutes a license between myself and the artist. Am I correct in this understanding?

Answer 1

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer

It depends on the wording that the submitter must read and acknowledge before uploading his/her song. You know all those "I accept" boxes you've had to click anytime you wanted to download software? That's what you need, accompanied by a statement that the person submitting the song has the right to do so and voluntarily relinquishes the rights to you for purposes of airing the songs on your website (and only your website) at no charge.

You also need a privacy statement that guarantees their identity nor their music will be used for any purpose other than that represented by the agreement with your site. The statement also should grant you permission to email them with regard to matters involving their submission. There should be a "hold Harmless" that guarantees you have no liability if the submitter turns out to not be the owner of the song. Make sure everything is double opt-in - and gather their complete name, address, contact info including email.

When you receive a submission, you send a confirmation email back to the address provided with the submission and then they must reply to that. That's called double opt-in and is the commonly used method for protecting yourself when sending out unsolicited emails, but it will also work for your purposes.

Starting to sound complicated? It is.

You've got a great idea and are seeing some response, but you need to get legally protected or take a chance on getting sued one day. All it takes is one person (or disgruntled ex-bandmember) to say, "Hey, I wrote that song and I didn't upload it, what do you think you're doing?"

I'd suggest you study the "Terms of Use" and "Privacy Statements" of other websites and radio stations that accept submissions. Without copying word for word, you can craft a statement and include an "I accept" check box on your site during the upload process.

I'd feel more comfortable, though, if you had an attorney draw something up.

-a guy named duh

Answer 2

i dont see why not .. !!! h**l a lot of people do it !

Nilo the Angry Latino

Livid Line: 201-258-4521

WWW.Nilo-Radio.com

Click to tune in :  mms://wm5.spacialnet.com/niloradio113864