Kevin Brown2 wrote:
This is a point of dispute. Users have the concept of fair use. However it has been ruled that a ringtone is NOT a derivative work.
Right. However this ruling doesn't allow users to use their songs as ringtones. It simply means that the record labels that hold the master recording copyrights do not have to pay the artists additional royalties for the ringtone.
Some people will bleat that a ring tone played in public needs a performance right. In any case even if you buy an "official" ring tone, the provider is not providing a license for public performance.
The crux of the problem is that fair use has never been clearly defined in law. Some companies take a very liberal stance when it comes to the fair use restrictions and ringtones. Apple can't take such a liberal view since it would upset the record labels that their online store serves as a vendor for.
The current legal opinion is that ringtones are not covered under the "fair use" license you acquire when you purchase a song/album. Since it has yet to be tested in court, though, its still just opinion.
For years people have played music on Ghetto blasters.
Trust me, the RIAA would love to charge those guys public performance royalites. There's just no way to track it.