What is with that awful "music"? I'm at a loss. Kids today. Go figure. This is why I almost never bother going upstairs on buses in Edinburgh any more. Tougher penalties for aesthetic crimes are needed, and fast.
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Royalty Rate Unchanged, Apple's iTunes Safe For Now
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What is with that awful "music"? I'm at a loss. Kids today. Go figure. This is why I almost never bother going upstairs on buses in Edinburgh any more. Tougher penalties for aesthetic crimes are needed, and fast.
Unless you have the latest garage band, I don't think you can put ringtones on the iPhone w/o purchasing them. If phone makers (and this includes you Apple) would quit locking their phones in order to nickel and dime people you might have a point...
Honestly, where you get screwed is .....
It's not so much the ring-tones that the more "tech savvy" among us care about. (You're right... we'll just make our own and find a way to get them uploaded to most phones out there.)
Where they've still got you is when you want to use one of those services that substitutes the standard sound of your phone ringing with music (often called "ringbacks"). Since this is what the caller hears before you pick up your phone, it has to be managed at the phone company's end - not on your phone. So you have no control over being forced to pay their fee for each custom song clip you want to assign.....
It's not so much the ring-tones that the more "tech savvy" among us care about. (You're right... we'll just make our own and find a way to get them uploaded to most phones out there.)
Where they've still got you is when you want to use one of those services that substitutes the standard sound of your phone ringing with music (often called "ringbacks"). Since this is what the caller hears before you pick up your phone, it has to be managed at the phone company's end - not on your phone. So you have no control over being forced to pay their fee for each custom song clip you want to assign.....
I can make my own ringtones really easily on my Palm Centro with a free app called MiniTones...
Now I can still count on one Christmas gift I will be getting for the next five years -- iTunes Gift Cards.
You don't need GarageBand:
http://theappleblog.com/2008/08/07/free-custom-iphone-ringtones-using-only-itunes/
God what blundering idiots-dont they realize that iTunes probably increases sales of CDs?-as a person who may like physical product, but wants to hear a song or two first.
They are using a dinosaur business model-they should all team up with APPLE
to sell albums extra contents-and yes-printable booklets for your CD
what IS the roylalty rate industry wide-if its around $.10 what are they complaining about?
They are using a dinosaur business model-they should all team up with APPLE
to sell albums extra contents-and yes-printable booklets for your CD
what IS the roylalty rate industry wide-if its around $.10 what are they complaining about?
According to TuneCore, the current rate Apple pays for song Tunecore puts up is 70 cents for a single, $7.00 for an "album." Record labels may have negotiated a different price.
From that 70 cents, the entity putting the track in iTunes pays all expenses: song writer royalties, performance royalties (if that's you or your band, you keep that), etc.
Eddie O
margin calculations
Quote: It's a 41% margin (29 cents on 70), and a gross margin, at that. Depending on which analyst you believe, the net profit is somewhere between 5 and 12 cents."
If the sales price is 99 cents, and Apple's keeps 29 cents, that a 29.2% gross margin (gross margin is the sales price minus COGS: gross income (29 cents) divided by net sales (99 cents)). And in fact, according to the Investor World web site definitions, the "gross income" is the sales price minus COGS, returns, operational expenses, etc..
But we'll keep it simple: Apple's gross margin is about 29% before other expenses, but after paying COGS.
Eddie O
Quote: It's a 41% margin (29 cents on 70), and a gross margin, at that. Depending on which analyst you believe, the net profit is somewhere between 5 and 12 cents."
If the sales price is 99 cents, and Apple's keeps 29 cents, that a 29.2% gross margin (gross margin is the sales price minus COGS: gross income (29 cents) divided by net sales (99 cents)). And in fact, according to the Investor World web site definitions, the "gross income" is the sales price minus COGS, returns, operational expenses, etc..
But we'll keep it simple: Apple's gross margin is about 29% before other expenses, but after paying COGS.
Eddie O
Congress has.
"To perform or display a work “publicly” means—
(1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered;" 17 USC 101.
Listening to your music with the windows down and watching a movie do not fall into that definition. Your phone going off in the middle of a shopping mall does.
They still do that? I thought that went out in the 80s.
None of that matters. A 30 second ringtone out of a two-and-a-half minute song is not de minimis (not that there is any such standard). Advertising has nothing to do with it. The audience is not limited--you're standing in the middle of a crowd of strangers when it goes off.
Jan 1, 2006. The rate is the greater of 9.1 cents per song or 1.75 cents per minute, so it will have no impact on the length of songs.
No. The songwriters get the rate above, and the current rate took effect in 2006.
If you'll look at what you quoted, the issue was the margin of markup, not gross margin. It is 41% on the 70 cents. Gross margin on the sales price is a different figure, and is indeed 29.2 cents, but that was not the assertion.
City streets are open to the public, as is the sidewalk in front of your house. So no, those would still fall into that definition.
Not unless a substantial number of persons is gathered at your window or around your car. Open to the public is not itself enough.
You can listen to your music on your fishing trip without there being a problem. You need at least about 30 people around at the same time in most cases. If you're playing your car stereo that loud, the more likely concern is a ticket for nuisance. There have been some cars in parking lots that have crossed the line into public performance, but it is quite rare.
Funny, because that's not what the statute you quoted said. I assume that this comes from some sort of case law like I originally inquired about?
In my experience, you're not likely to get 30 people who can hear your ringtone, either.
But if there's a 30 person threshold, then just making a ringtone isn't a problem, unlike what you originally said--only using it in an infringing manner, when 30 or more people can hear it.
"To perform or display a work “publicly” means—Funny, because that's not what the statute you quoted said. I assume that this comes from some sort of case law like I originally inquired about?
(1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered;" 17 USC 101 (emphasis added).
It's exactly what the statute says.
Nonsense. Classrooms, trains, airplane cabins, airport waiting lounges, shopping malls, conference rooms, courtrooms, hotel lobbies, supermarket checkout lanes, and ball parks are just a few off the top of my head. Most of the time, there may not be that many people around, but a lot of the time, there are.
In any case, ringtones are licensed for public performance, and royalties are paid for them. 24 cents to songwriters, and substantially more to labels. It's a settled matter.
No, because reproduction and derivation are not rights you possess. The making itself is an infringement. The use of it in public is also an infringement.
You're ignoring the "at a place open to the public or" half of the clause. Both places are restricted, not just when people are around, unless there's case law saying that the one takes precedence over the other.
My understanding was that it was distribution that was the problem, not the reproduction proper. But as I can't find the page the Copyright Office used to have detailing Fair Use, I'll concede that such reproduction and derivation does not seem to be explicitly allowed, though it may fall under the provisions of 17 USC 107.
(That said, is there any legal difference between the process to encode a CD onto your computer, and the process to create a ringtone? It sure doesn't seem like there should be one; they're the same technical process.)
"dinosaur business model"... Those are the words ive been looking for for the past several years... and yet, artists, labels, and even many fans still think that way...
signed 2008
What on earth are you talking about? Neither your living room nor your car is open to the public. The first phrase does not apply to the scenario you introduced.
"Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work..." 17 USC 106.
If it's reproduction, and it's not authorized, and there's no statutory license in the balance of Chapter 1, it's copyright infringement.
17 USC 107 does not apply; fair use covers parody, criticism, reporting, academic uses and other public acts. Setting aside that CD ripping isn't fair use either (it's personal use), there is a significant difference: making a ringtone involves reproduction, derivation (selection and arrangement), and a change in medium and character of the work. You're not engaging in a noncommercial personal use to enjoy the song; you're engaging in an adaptation to use the work in a manner inconsistent with the copyright owner's interests.
This is entirely academic, however, because no one has ever been sued for making their own ringtone without public distribution. There is nothing to gain by suing someone for it.
