Meritt,

What's the difference? devil

Back in the 70s, here in Pittsburgh, ASCAP hired some low life types to call businesses and ask some really goofy question which would prompt the operator to put them on hold. If they heard a radio, the business was sent a cease and desist order and some, (the really well healed corporate types,) got hit with thousand dollar fines. If they heard music that was on their copyright list, they sent the same cease and desist order and warned the people that, if caught again, there would be huge fines levied. A few cases went to court. There were mixed results. Several companies were hit and the music they were playing was in the public domain. It was kind of a free-for-all because the "rules" were kind of made up as they went. BMI got involved, as well, and complicated things even more. Because of the mess they made in Pittsburgh and other cities, the courts forced, at that time, ASCAP and BMI to adopt actual rules and out of those rules came some exclusions. Here a link to better understand the music on hold and background music copyright rules: Click Here

My advice to our customers is to purchase, from us, a music on hold device with licensed content. The new Grace music on hold devices even allow the user to add announcements and do advertising. As if being on "Ignore" isn't infuriating enough!

Rcaman

Americom, Inc.
Where The Art And Science Of Communications Meet