Licensing to rebroadcast interviews on internet radio?

Question

[Apologies if this is the wrong StackExchange for this kind of question... please direct me to somewhere that might be more appropriate.]

It seems as though there's a lot of material available on creating an internet radio station, and the royalty situation is fairly well-defined. However, everything I've found assumes that such stations will be music-only.

Are there any laws and royalty schemes around rebroadcasting artist interviews? If not, does anyone have advice as to how I would go about incorporating such interviews in an internet radio stream, or related experiences they can share?

[Is this unlikely to happen because most audio artist interviews are conducted by real radio stations? Or is there some established system in place for getting rebroadcast rights, for the same reason?]

Answer 1

Yep, this is a great place for that question, though I did add a copyright tag...

Understanding that I'm an NOT a lawyer, just someone who's dealt with a lot of lawyers and intellectual property law, the rule of thumb is that if YOU record it you own the copyright and can do whatever you want with it. There's a legal doctrine called the "right of publicity" which means that you can have a certain expectation of privacy...that's where release forms come in.

Your MAKING something (the recording) gives you the right to use it, but it's prudent to get the participants contributing to what you're recording (interviewees, a band, etc.)to sign a release form that gives their permission for you to do with it what you will.

For things that OTHER people have recorded, you need permission from them to re-broadcast it. They can let you do this free or for a fee, it's up top them as the copyright owner. Just make sure that you have a release from them that gives you permission to re-broadcast, and outlines the terms under which you can broadcast.

Googling "release forms" and "licensing agreements" will give you more in-depth info as well.

I'd also find and attorney friend who owes you a favor and is willing to answer questions over a beer or two...that always helps.

Good luck!