October 5th, 2007

Copyright Free Music News from RoyaltyFreeMusic.com

As technology has complicated the way professionals and anyone else working with background music - both background music owned by major music providers and that owned by royalty free music and buyout music companies - copyright laws have started to get incredibly confusing. The United States and many other countries have managed to adjust their system of licensing music and handling the millions of daily online downloads that happen through iTunes and many illegal music sharing sites and have created amendments to existing laws governing the use of background music in different settings to protect composers, artists and performers as well as the individuals purchasing and using the music in their projects.

Because of how complex both national (in the U.S. and in other countries abroad) and international copyright laws have become, adjustments cannot always keep up with advancements. And those individuals - with large budgets and also with more modest budgets -- looking to build large libraries of background music to diversify the collection for their restaurants, hotels, films, television projects and many other projects have started turning towards high quality royalty free music, buyout music and copyright free music providers in an effort to protect themselves against violations and keep the process hassle free.

What do the terms "buyout music" and "copyright free" music mean? The terms are essentially interchangeable. "Buyout music" refers to the process of "buying out" the royalty fees to use pieces of background music one time - during the first purchase - to satisfy all copyright law and have the opportunity to use the music for a lifetime in a variety of projects. "Copyright free music" does not refer to music that is not copyrighted, rather again that the purchaser satisfies the copyright fees during the first purchase and thus can use the royalty free music purchased in future projects.

Until recently, many countries, including China have not followed suit in the push to create better systems for managing internationally copyrighted background music in order to especially protect musicians and artists. Much of the music used in Chinese television, film and radio stations - that which was not royalty free music, buyout music or copyright free music - has not been appropriately licensed. Recently, the Chinese government announced it was working on regulations for collecting royalties particularly from television and radio stations that use pieces of music.

Despite this new development, Liu Binjie, Director of the General Administration of Press and Publication and the National Copyright Administration for China stated that he does not know when the new regulations will be enforced or announced to the public. However, since the government's new involvement with protecting background music has been revealed, many stores and restaurants have been inspired to sign up to pay their dues for the background music they've been using, much of which was not copyright free music.

China has not been totally lacking in its push towards licensing tracks of background music. Background music played at department stores and hotels in Shanghai and the rest of China finally got copyright protection in 2001 when National Copyright Law was revised. Most large hotels, department stores and grocery stores - particularly in Beijing and Shanghai - have been paying fees to the Music Copyright Society of China for using songs. And Karaoke bars in major Chinese cities had to pay the equivalent of $1.50 in fees to music artists for each room according to a law created in 2006.

Still, television stations and radio stations in China have continued not to pay any fees for background music that is not royalty free music, copyright free music or buyout music. The Music Copyright Society of China is the only organization for music copyright within the country and has issued copyrights for over 14 million music works for approximately 4,000 members.

For more information on this developing background music visit the embedded link. For thousands of tracks of easy-to-download royalty free music, copyright free music and buyout music, rely on RoyaltyFreeMusic.com!

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