Rush Limbaugh vs. RIAA
Rush isn't the guy I'd expect to be addressing music distribution through podcasting, yet he's distilled it down to the very basics. If his legal team can't figure out a way around legally including popular music in his podcasts, the rest of us are painting big targets on our heads if we are foolish enough to play music with ties to ASCAP, BMI, Harry Fox and the RIAA.
From his June 14 show:
…I went to some of my partners and I said, "I want you to shoot me straight. Is this really a legal opinion or are you just telling me this because it's cheaper?" You know, I don't care. If it offends them it offends them. "I want to know the truth. Is this really the truth or are you just doing this because it's cheaper to do it this way?"
They were righteously indignant and offended and they said, "No, it has nothing to do with that. The cost is prohibitive." I mean there's no system set up for this kind of thing yet. We're away ahead of the curve to do this legally. I can't explain the people that are doing it in a way that we have been told is illegal, and I can't explain why they're doing it, and the fact that they are doing it does not give us the confidence that we could do it ourselves…
You can read the full Rush transcript on this at rushlimbaugh.com.
At the same time, the same advisors who have warned him off of playing pop music in podcasts should be pointing him to legal alternatives.