By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – It’s pay to play for city-run shows and concerts.

The City Council agreed this week to buy licenses from two of the largest music copyright organizations. That lets city employees and those under the city’s control play copyrighted music on city-owned property such as parks, the Lewiston Armory and the Lewiston Public Library.

The licenses – costing a total of about $600 a year – cover city-organized concerts in the parks, performers at Lewiston Public Library and the annual Christmas tree-lighting festivities.

“It covers anything we do, anywhere we do it,” said Maggie Chisholm, Lewiston Parks and Recreation director.

Festivals, concerts and shows on city property managed by someone else are not covered. Councilors also amended city ordinances to warn those groups and urge them to get their own licenses.

“I think we’ve done everything we can possibly do to protect ourselves, outside of saying nobody can ever perform in any public spaces,” City Administrator Jim Bennett said.

Auburn is considering a similar move, according to Parks and Recreation Director Pete Bushway.

“It’s one of those things we have to start being aware of,” Bushway said. “We haven’t been contacted, but we know that it could certainly impact anything we do.”

Attorneys from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers contacted the city of Lewiston this spring, saying it was open to copyright liability.

The Colisee for years has had an ASCAP license, which lets the ice arena play popular music for skating parties and the like, said Assistant City Administrator Phil Nadeau. It was never a concern for the other parts of the city, however.

“We’re not in the entertainment business,” Nadeau said. “It’s not something we really understood. But we do now.”

Easier way

It’s part of a push that began in 2001, when music-licensing groups began offering blanket coverage for cities and towns. Before that, cities needed a different license for each venue if they wanted to stay within copyright law.

“If they had a skating rink, they paid a percentage based on entrance sales,” said Vincent Candilora, senior vice president of licensing at ASCAP. “If they had a stadium, they paid based on the number of seats. If they had a concert, it was based on the gross ticket sales.”

Cities began looking for an easier way, and ASCAP came up with a license based on a city’s population.

“That works on a number of levels,” Candilora said. “Bigger cities pay more, and they usually have more venues. Plus, it’s simple for the city. There’s no accounting of ticket sales or anything like that. One simple number and they don’t worry about it.”

ASCAP has been contacting individual cities and towns since then, warning them about their liability. ASCAP has never had to sue a city, he said.

“That’s the last resort,” he said. “Once we’ve educated them about the law, they realize that, economically, it’s a very good deal.”

It doesn’t cover concerts, festivals or individual musicians and street performers providing impromptu performances on city streets. That’s not realistic, he said.

ASCAP does go after bars, hotels and restaurants. The group has 12 investigators who travel around New England checking to make sure licenses are in order, Candilora said. They now make cities part of their regular rounds.

Play away

Permitted uses of copyrighted music, according to ASCAP:

• Personal use, on a stereo, in a person’s home, car or headphones (as long as the person has paid for the music or is listening to it over the public airwaves)

• Face-to-face music lessons and performances in a nonprofit classroom

• During religious services at a place of worship

• On TV or radio in the background at a small restaurant, bar or retail store

• Charitable event if no one – including performers, promoters or organizers – receives any money directly or indirectly

No way

Venues requiring a license to play music include:

• Festivals or concerts operated or promoted by groups that don’t have a license

• Restaurants, bars, clubs or hotels where music is the featured attraction and admission is charged

• Shopping malls or stores that play taped music over the public-address systems

• Exercise classes, dance studios and skating rinks

• On-hold music played over a telephone

• Colleges, sports teams, amusement parks and bowling centers