Thursday, August 20, 2009

SING OUT FOR FREEDOM


SONGS OF THE FOLKSONG REBELLION

BMI and ASCAP are shaking down every
retail establishment including
non-
performance venues where
musicians are no longer permitted
to perform
their own music for free.

They claim that they have the right
to "fine" musicians who violate their

prohibitions $35,000 for every single
song they sing in public for free
even if
the musician owns the song.

In addition, the venue in which they
sing must pay some $10,000 to allow

musicians to come in and sing their
own songs and/or folksongs in the

public domain, plus royalty fees
for every song they sing based on
the size
of the audience, even if
the audience did not pay to attend
and the
performance is incidental
to the business, that is to say,
if the musician
performs in a
health food store, or a clothing
business.


Morever, they threaten to imprison
folksingers and musicians peforming

their own original music, claiming
the right to enact criminal law as
if they
were government agencies.

Not only have BMI and ASCAP wildly
overstepped the boundaries of the

rights of musicians, they are acting
illegally. What they demand is both

against civil and criminal law and
is glaringly unconstitutional. It
is also a
violation of Taft-Hartley
and many other racketeering laws of
the United
States.



Folksongs have long been an
instrument of protest against
injustice. With
these new demands
of BMI and ASCAP and their
mafia-like shakedowns of
retail
businesses, their use of stoolie
goons -- they hire local high school

music teachers to inform on
businesses who allow folksingers to
come in to
sing for free -- and
their extortion practices,
folksingers can no longer sing

songs of protest against BMI and
ASCAP without fear of multi-million
dollar
fines and possible
imprisonment. Doesn't that sound a
bit like some
dictatorships you've
heard about???


It's a violation of Free Speech and
a definite Abrogation of Civil Rights,
and
millions of folksingers and
songwriters and performers are
joining in an
enormous grass-roots
campaign against it. If you are a
musician and/or
songwriter, I urge
you to join the class-action suit
now being organized
against BMI and
ASCAP.


In the meantime, I urge you to SING
OUT in protest against this merciless

injustice being committed by
organizations who have single-handedly

destroyed the grassroots music and
musicians of this once-free nation.


I have written a number of original
folksongs. They are copyright-free
and
performance royalty free. I
urge you to write your own protest
songs and
encourage other musicians
to SING OUT FOR FREEDOM from corporate

greed.

Do not fear BMI and ASCAP. They are
800 pound gorillas who will soon fall

from power. The harder they are,
the bigger they fall!!! DOWN WITH BMI

AND ASCAP!

gorebagg (ej gold)

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