The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and AACT are pleased to announce a new ASCAP License Agreement for Community Theatres, and a discount program for AACT members utilizing the license.
To this point there has been no single license agreement through which community theatres could obtain permission for non-dramatic public performances of music by means of mechanical reproduction occurring before a show, during intermission or after a show.

The new community theatre license will cover the theatre for a year at all its venues for copyrighted pre-show, intermission, and post-show music played by means other than live performers, such as CD’s and tapes. (This license does not cover ASCAP music performed live, such as in a musical revue or a string quartet performing during a gala reception, or music used as underscoring for a production.)

AACT member theatres can receive a significant discount on the ASCAP community theatre license fee. A letter explaining the new program and the community theatre license agreement were recently mailed to AACT organizational members. Part of the discount is dependent upon AACT providing administrative support. AACT will collect fees and signed agreements from theatres and forward them as a group to ASCAP. The license year is the same as the AACT membership year, September 1-August 31.

For more information about the AACT/ASCAP agreement and discount program, see documents below.

Perhaps you are wondering, “Why do we need permission to play music?” or, “What is ASCAP?” The answers are straightforward. You wouldn’t perform a copyrighted play without getting a license and paying royalties to the author, usually through a royalty house or agent. The same applies to copyrighted music. The copyright law requires users to receive permission to perform copyrighted music publicly. This law applies even if you are playing a mechanical recording, rather than performing the music live.

Remember, the composer’s only payment for the creative work is usually through royalties. Sure, a small fraction of the amount you paid to purchase the CD or tape was for royalties to the songwriter or composer (almost all of the amount you paid goes to the record company and performer), but that was for private listening – you and a few friends – not for public presentation. Composers and songwriters rely on public performance royalties to earn a living. ASCAP makes that happen.

ASCAP is the oldest, largest, and foremost organization in the United States that licenses the right to publicly perform copyrighted musical compositions. ASCAP makes it easy to legally utilize music because it is a membership organization representing more than 300,000 songwriter, composer, lyricist, and music publisher members, provides an annual license at a reasonable fl at fee, and doesn’t require submission of a list of songs to be played. In addition, the vast ASCAP repertory to which licensees have unlimited access – millions and millions of works - is listed on the ASCAP website (www.ascap.com) so it is easy to determine if ASCAP handles a particular song.
 

Documents [in PDF format]

ASCAP Q&A's   |  Rate Schedule   |  License  |  ASCAP Cover Letter