ASCAP demanding royalties for ringtones played in public, EFF fights back

IDG News reports that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital rights group, is fighting against an assertion that royalties should be paid when a cell phone ringtone plays in public. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) filed suit against AT&T with claims that they are owed royalties because ring tones constitute public performance under the Copyright Act.

The EFF said in a brief filed Wednesday that ringtones do not have any direct or indirect commercial advantage, thus are not applicable to the law. Network operators already pay ASCAP for songwriting royalties on ringtones they use.