2010-05-05 P & R Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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We paid our $280 fee yesterday — in consultation with (our attorney) his opinion was that skipping the payment was not worth the future hassles including the subsequent deluge of "reminder" letters that you are in violation of a whole bunch of laws by not paying the fee. Steve: We buy the license for our Parks & Rec programming functions and also for use of music on our CATV channel. It feels like kind of a shakedown, but our City Attorney has told us it's necessary. I've asked my staff for more detail. I'll forward their comments on to you. Steven, Your question regarding ASCAP licensing was forwarded to me - so here goes. We are currently licensed under both ASCAP and SESAC, in fact I just got done submitting check requests for our 2006 license agreements in the amount of $1300.00. Basically, once one of the organizations gets your name, the other begins calling. From what we could determine, both ASCAP and SESAC cover different music songwriters, so it is necessary to when requested, pick up both licenses. Prior to the City of X licensing with these organizations, we had our City Attorney make a recommendation. Basically, he indicated that the annual cost for licensing is minimal compared to the potential fines that could be iinposed. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me and I will try to help. I do not claim to be an expert, only the one paying the bill each year. Steven - Here are the guts of two memos, one for the City Attorney and one to City Manager on the issue. The City opted to purchase the license. Please let me know if you need more information. CA Memo: You have asked for research on the issue whether the City should obtain a license from ASCAP to allow us to play music or solicit performance of musicians on City property. I have performed an inventory of our activities in this area and, after discussing the issue with an ASCAP representative, I have determined that only one activity, that of the City hiring performers through the Senior Center or ! Fine Arts Commission, could be subject to the licensing requirement. The Fine Arts Commission budget is in the neighborhood of $12,000 annually; I do not know how much the Senior Center has budgeted for these activities, but I suspect it is less. An ASCAP license would cost $537 per year; if we were also to get a BMI license, that would be an additional similar amount (both licenses would cover virtually all performances). These amounts aze evidently going to be subject to a CPI adjustment in coming years. I learned that a number of cities in the metro area, including Minneapolis, St. Pau1, St. Louis Park, Medina, Maple Grove, Plyrnouth, and Roseville, have procured the ASCAP license. As I understand it, ASCAP is negotiating with Bloomington for a more comprehensive license as well. Both licenses have been drafted with the help of IMLA. I can make some more inquiries as to the particulars of the other cities' licenses and their activities, but I suspect most are doing things similar to us. Historically, we have assumed that the performers have secured the necessary waivers or licenses to perform. The ASCAP representa.tive stated that "court