Source of permission/license to use song on a cruise ship?
<p>When I was on a cruise ship, the song "Hungry Heart" was played on a daily, almost hourly basis on the ship over its p.a. system. Does the ship need to get a license/pay royalties for the right to do this? Or is this "fair use?" Put another way, does a DJ need to pay royalties every time s/he plays a song over e.g. the radio? Or can they get a "pass" by claiming that they are not earning money on the song itself, only the advertising that the radio sells? (It could be any song, but the Bruce Springsteen song was the one I remembered.)</p>

<p>Is there a legal mechanism whereby the cruise ship can "escape" paying royalties? Theory 1 is that the cruise is in international waters. 2) Theory 2 is that the cruise ship is merely "rebroadcastng" a radio or TV show that contained the song. Obviously, the radio or TV show had to pay for the original song use, but does that apply to viewers/listeners of a TV show? </p>

<p>My understanding is that the cruise ship has to pay royalties on "live" performances on the ship, so my question is about "canned" performances. For example, does a bar have to pay directly for the  playing of say, songs on a jukebox, or is that the responsibility of the jukebox lessor? Put another way, does the responsibility for paying for "canned" music fall on the "canner", (radio/TV/jukebox provider), or on the "can opener," (ship or bar)?</p>

<p>17 USC 106(4) gives the copyright holder </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following...</p>
  
  <p>in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works,
  pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to
  perform the copyrighted work publicly</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The cruise ship is making money for "the whole package", which includes the food, lounge chairs, and music; even if they were making no money, the right is not contingent on making money. It is clearly not "fair use". So if the usage were unlicensed, it would depend on the flag of the ship, e.g. US or Norway. Ships in international waters are not free of law, though when in port they may also be subject to the laws of the port country.</p>

<p>The terms of payment are determined by the license, so it could be unlimited usage in a stated time frame, or a per-use charge, or whatever it says in the license.</p>

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