What are the legal requirements to DJ in SL?

[Drake1 Nightfire]

The main reason DJs in SL "get away" with streaming music in clubs is simple.. There is no money to be made by talking them to court. Seriously, DJs get what, $500L an hour if they are lucky? $2 USD an hour? No DJ in SL is getting rich. 

Every single law about copyright has a little loophole in it, they all say "for profit" somewhere. If you don't make any money, you aren't making profit. 

That being said, yeah, it is illegal. But on the scale of things in SL that are illegal and should be banned, it's fairly low on the list. 

[MsChowMein]

5 hours ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

The main reason DJs in SL "get away" with streaming music in clubs is simple.. There is no money to be made by talking them to court. Seriously, DJs get what, $500L an hour if they are lucky? $2 USD an hour? No DJ in SL is getting rich. 

Every single law about copyright has a little loophole in it, they all say "for profit" somewhere. If you don't make any money, you aren't making profit.

True...however some DJs play 3-4 sets everyday - music downloaded from youtube (some buy from itunes) - some got sam broadcaster pirated- some adult zoned clubs pay+tips (i myself hang out at those where the DJs make 2500- 3k on an average set (2hrs) and the dancers/hosts make 1200-1500 and i used to be a PH for such a DJ so trust me the earning isnt as little as most people think it to be as playing 2-3 sets almost 4-5 days a week year after year illegally is quite something ! 

but yeah i dont think anybody is going to police the music inworld anytime soon even if they do djs have no legal obligation to show track titles so yeah they can "get away" with it i believe ~ its why i asked about licensing needs and wanted to be sure i needed 1 before starting my own dj career in sl ~ since its pretty expensive legally im going to stick with hosting hehe

 

PS: doing my own research too

Edited September 15, 2017 by MsChowMein

[Paul Hexem]

Funny story, according to BMI, venues in SL are responsible for licenses for their DJs.

SL is a legal mine field when it comes to DJs. Definitely do all the research you can.

[MsChowMein]

1 minute ago, Gadget Portal said:

Funny story, according to BMI, venues in SL are responsible for licenses for their DJs.

SL is a legal mine field when it comes to DJs. Definitely do all the research you can.

My country requires performers anywhere (rl or sl) a license i checked some hours back lol so im just going to keep doing paid hosting gigs  

[Drake1 Nightfire]

5 hours ago, MsChowMein said:

True...however some DJs play 3-4 sets everyday - music downloaded from youtube (some buy from itunes) - some got sam broadcaster pirated- some adult zoned clubs pay+tips (i myself hang out at those where the DJs make 2500- 3k on an average set (2hrs) and the dancers/hosts make 1200-1500 and i used to be a PH for such a DJ so trust me the earning isnt as little as most people think it to be as playing 2-3 sets almost 4-5 days a week year after year illegally is quite something ! 

 

No, it really isn't "quite something." That is the rarity, the average is much less. Even at 2500 per set, 3 sets a day for 4 days,  you only get $120USD a week. At 3 sets a day, i would doubt you have a full time RL job.  With having to put together the sets and then DJing for 6 hours, broken into 3 two hour blocks. So, you are STILL making only $5 USD an hour. It's not like the copybots on the MP who just slap creators stuff on there and sit back an the money rolls in. DJing is actual work. You also need a good voice presence, the ability to talk fluidly, and have a metric *****e ton of music. If someone requests some random song, you better have it. 

I used to DJ in RL as well as SL, the RL license i bought covered Digital as well as live broadcasting. It cost me almost 1000 USD. However, I made that back after one RL gig. How many months of work would it take in SL? even if you were lucky enough to get a $3K a gig SL gig? 2 or 3 months of work? Not worth it. 

[MsChowMein]

19 minutes ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

No, it really isn't "quite something."

By 'quite something' I meant those few DJs are getting away making that much money illegally , some without having to even pay for their music -like someone in this thread said i cant dj even if  i buy music from spotify unless i have permission from them to do so ..yes most moderate clubs tips r very low so even tho this practice is highly illegal for many or most its profitless hence nobody cares about it happening - true thing

 

19 minutes ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

At 3 sets a day, i would doubt you have a full time RL job.  

The DJ i was  a PH of was retired  i know a lot of retired DJs who play for fun, and some DJs based in Asian countries do that for "extra income" besides rl job - in asia even 100$ a month is a lot (so thats profit for them without much expense if they r doing it illegally) also a lot of my friend hosts and dancers from asia work for the same purpose ~

Since some DJs r profiting many others r not....i dont think anybody will waste their time on this matter  even tho it is illegal

Edited September 15, 2017 by MsChowMein

[Drake1 Nightfire]

9 minutes ago, MsChowMein said:

By 'quite something' I meant those few DJs are getting away making that much money illegally , some without having to even pay for their music -like someone in this thread said i cant dj even if  i buy music from spotify unless i have permission from them to do so ..yes most moderate clubs tips r very low so even tho this practice is highly illegal for many or most its profitless hence nobody cares about it happening - true thing

 

The DJ i was  a PH of was retired  i know a lot of retired DJs who play for fun, and some DJs based in Asian countries do that for "extra income" besides rl job - in asia even 100$ a month is a lot (so thats profit for them without much expense if they r doing it illegally) also a lot of my friend hosts and dancers from asia work for the same purpose ~

Since some DJs r profiting many others r not....i dont think anybody will waste their time on this matter  even tho it is illegal

You are making huge assumptions that those DJs do not have licenses.. They may very well DJ in RL as well, as I did and have one. Please stop saying they are doing so illegally without proof. 

 

[MsChowMein]

2 minutes ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

You are making huge assumptions that those DJs do not have licenses.. They may very well DJ in RL as well, as I did and have one. Please stop saying they are doing so illegally without proof. 

 

I am not making assumptions they themselves told me how they dj in sl like i said i have friends who work at clubs +  i am not talking about "all" the djs i am only talking about the ones I have known personally for many years

Edited September 15, 2017 by MsChowMein

[bigmoe Whitfield]

Let me poke my nose in on this.  I used Loudradio for years to dj in SL.  but it was not cheap and I could only play what was in the genre that I payed for and had certain set of rules.  just like a real radio station.   but once prices went up, I bowed out.  royalties are a pain in the ass.

[Robsguy]

Often the legal requirements are ignored and can lead to legal issues. I've seen a few people trying to be DJ's that do not have the real experience and understand the legalities fall fast and get hit by lawsuit then disappear. 

You can not bootleg music. You can not simply steal it from you tube (and people can tell its low quality off there anyway if they are actually even listening to you). 

You must use Licensed software permitted to stream and broadcast. 

You must used licensed music to broadcast, have purchased the content or own a licensed service rights to broadcast. Real DJ's will do it. I am fully licensed myself. I legally can broadcast on SL, streams, radio, and and Real venue as well.

Be careful in the venues these days, in 2017 DMA searches have happened in SL and people are getting hit with suits as well as locked on SL when it is filed Have your license info ready just in case. Some wannabe jealous DJ from Australia (who is jsut an auto play list sam broadcaster at that) tried to report me, what he didn't realize is I am legal, provided the info, but he was not and could not. As a result his accounts were locked and LL had to provide info. I fidn i a bit rediculous to report people trying to have fun, but at the same time if you will be a game player fake hater, you better be able to back yourself.

Be very careful in venues. I don't recommend recording video's and uploading them to you tube either, nor faebook, where it seems tings are tracked more and more this year. 

Mixxx is legal software to a point, but for broadcasting it states clearly you must have license use rights. I use serato and a private server from our real club, or VDJ infinity and am fully licensed for it. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2017 by Robsguy

[Hunter Stern]

This is why SL is not taken seriously. Basically most people in SL are not real DJ's virtual or otheriwse (don't get me started about the people that copy and paste a playlist through winamp off their personal music collection on their PC and call it good).

I own a company which is listed and licensed as a Multimedia provider, therefor I HAVE to have licensing and all the other caveats that go along with using and/or playing any media on any platform. Whether it's my own website or blog, or some other persons channel or station. To be established as a real entity I must be licensed as outlined by various law and not just Copyright or Patent law, including FCC regulations.

I am one of those people that that the FCC (for example) would file a complaint about if they got a report of me broadcasting via my servers at my business and home through my servers which are licensed under my company which I am responsible for real life fees and taxes.

If an agency does file a complaint with LL concerning a residents usage of media , then yes LL has every right as outlined in the ToS to close the account until the matter is resolved. As far as a ban though , I don't know and highly doubt they would take such a permanent action on such a case unless it was proven to break specific clause outlining the infaction and damgages.

I make animated music players and give them out freely (with specific next owner permissions as is required by the animation creator) to anyone that wants one for this same reason. I also have made replicas from TV characters which I do not sell and have even posted the originating creators credits through their website with the replicas, as is usually recommended.

I also have made and sold custom avatars with sound effects , those sounds being mine. I have had people offer to partner with me in my SL business that I sold the AV's through but I had to turn them down because I would have to have a RL employment contract to do so under my businesses guidelines (my AV's are copyrighted and licensed under my business essentially).

SL is so awash in Copyright infringements and 'loop' holes that it's not funny. But it is the originating creator and/or licensed agent of the content to make the complaint if something is being used without permission, otherwise not much can or has been done.

[HarrisonMcKenzie]

On 9/14/2017 at 9:22 PM, lickmydonkey said:

All you people who think most sl djs r illegal, can u prove to me that the streaming license isn't covered in parcels? I think every parcel is licensed or they wouldn't allow so many djs to spin without license

The better question is can they prove they aren't doing it illegally. The fact of the matter is that probably 95% of DJs playing actual songs (and probably half or more of those playing electronic or trance) are doing it illegally because they can. There are DJs who play their own music and those who do get broadcasting licenses, but let's not pretend that even a sizable number of people are above board on this.