The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and the Firefighter Combat Challenge®

I’ve addressed this topic before, and it’s time to revisit the implications of the DCMA for our background music playlist. Every artist that wants to make a living through their music has been afforded protection by Congress under the DCMA.

Meaning, that every song that you hear on the radio or TV is protected from piracy. Like it or not, the original artist, songwriter, producer “owns” their original work. Or can sell the rights to another agency.

When we play music in a public place, we are obligated to report and pay a use fee. As you might imagine, this can not only become expensive, but confusing since there are many agencies representing the millions of tunes available for downloading through a host of servers.

While we do not proffer our soundtrack as the reason for attending the Firefighter Combat Challenge®, it does add a certain ambiance to the show.

The consequences of violating the DMCA can be very expensive. Fines levied can be in the thousands of dollars, notwithstanding the fact that morally, it’s theft.

So, if you hear someone complaining that we’re playing “unlicensed” music [royalty-free tunes in the public domain], kindly explain that we don’t make the laws and ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

We have been recruiting garage bands, looking for exposure, offering free use of their repertoire. If you know any musician that would like to donate sports-appropriate tracks, have them contact Rob O’Connor.

We’re always happy to provide a platform for budding artists.