Thursday, September 09, 2010

DIY: On With The Show?

So, I checked at BMI.com.  "The Sun Is At My Window" doesn't appear to be one of theirs.

Before you can consult their database you must agree to the following:

 

The BMI.com Repertoire contains information on compositions in the BMI repertoire, including foreign compositions licensed by BMI.

The BMI.com Repertoire has access to the song title registration information contained in the BMI repertoire, including foreign works registered with BMI and arrangements of works in the public domain.

The information contained in the database has been provided to BMI from a variety of sources, and BMI makes no warranties or representations whatsoever with respect to its accuracy. In some cases, the writer or publisher information shown may not reflect actual copyright ownership of a work as registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. In addition, writers or publishers for whom BMI does not license a work are not listed. Any use of this information for purposes other than to determine what musical compositions are contained in the BMI repertoire through the last update is solely at the risk of the user. Our database displays the names of recording artists that we have verified with independent, recognized industry sources.

We update our repertoire information daily. BMI specifically disclaims any and all liability for any loss or damages which may be incurred, directly or indirectly, as a result of the use of the information in this database, or for any omissions or errors contained in the database.

Let me get this straight:  BMI collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed but they cannot be sure that they have the correct information about such basic information as who is the "writer" or "publisher" of any given song in their repertoire?

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