Deadline for music licensing renewals is March 31

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The United Motorcoach Association is reminding its members that it’s time to renew their ASCAP and BMI licenses.

The association has negotiated a fee discount for members with ASCAP and BMI, the music industry licensing organizations.

UMA collects the fees and license agreements from members and passes that information and payments along to ASCAP and BMI. Payments are due by March 31 to receive the discounted licenses through the association.

In order to legally play recorded music on a motorcoach, operators must obtain permission from the license holder.

By playing pre-recorded music (or movies that have music, and virtually all do) to the passengers on a coach, an operator is essentially providing a public performance of that material.

The penalty for playing copyrighted music or showing movies without permission or a license can be stiff.

U.S. copyright law provides that a court can assess damages and require the operator to pay the copyright owner’s attorney fees and court costs, as well as enter an injunction against the violator.

A license must be obtained for each coach that plays pre-recorded music or movies with music for passengers.

Renewal forms must be sent to UMA along with a check for payment to arrive no later than March 31. UMA cannot accept a credit card payment for this service since it simply passes along the payment.

UMA members who have not received a renewal form or who need information about ASCAP and BMI licensing should contact Jocelyn Delacruz at jdelacruz@uma.org or (703) 838-2929.

The ASCAP and BMI licenses only apply to music played on coaches, or the music included in a video presentation.

A video presentation (i.e., a movie) on a coach requires separate licensing, such as that provided by Motorcoach Movies, which also offers a UMA discount.

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