Digital DJ Licensing - Licensing By Country

Licensing By Country

The need for a license, the details of it, and the costs vary from country to country. The license is usually issued by the national organizations which protect the intellectual properties of composers, lyricists, arrangers and performers; or by other organizations which are licensed to sell such licenses on their behalf. Sometimes the license takes the form of leasing, and needs to be renewed yearly, and the tracks used under the license may not be used after the license expires, unless a new license is acquired. For example, in the UK the DJ is allowed to continue using the tracks copied under a previous license even after the license expires, while in Finland the tracks copied under license must be deleted after the license expires. Usually, the songs used do not have to be defined in advance. The songs used must be copied from legitimate sources, and it is not possible to legally play songs illegally downloaded, even if the dj has a license. It is not however always required for the dj to own the original recording, and for example copying music from a cd borrowed from a library may be allowed, but this varies between countries, being for example allowed in Finland but prohibited in the UK. Another common element of the licenses is that they are personal and non-transferable, and thus the copies may only be used by the person who originally acquired the license, and can not be borrowed or rented to a third-party.