Re: BBC cutting news jobs

["Dan Billings" <billings@suscom-maine.net>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Garrett Wollman" <wollman@lcs.mit.edu>
To: "Dan Billings" <billings@suscom-maine.net>
Cc: <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2003 12:50 PM
Subject: Re: BBC cutting news jobs


> So the fees US radio stations pay to ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC are also
> taxes?  They are also mandatory, imposed by the government, and
> collected by private corporations pursuant to a government-granted
> monopoly.

The government does not impose copyright fees.  Our laws simply grant
copyright rights and the owners of those rights have come together in the
organizations you mentioned to enforce their rights.  The fees copyright
owners charge are like the price the manufactuer charges for the TV.  The
license fee is a tax imposed on top of the cost of the set.

-- Dan Billings, Bowdoinham, Maine