Legal Issues Canadian DJ's Need to Know?

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Legal Issues Canadian DJ’s Need to Know?

Hey DJTT,

I’ve been a bedroom DJ for a couple years now and now I’m finally starting to get gigs. Are there any legal issues I need to know about? I’ve got a few questions:

  1. Can you DJ illegal music at non profit events?
  2. What licenses do I need?

Everywhere I look online it seems like everyone DJ should be in jail. Could someone sort out the legal side of things for me?

Thanks everyone,
box801

2

know one really cares about stolen music, but the quality of %99.9 of stolen music is awful

3

Not sure how anyone will find out your music is “illegal” but regardless, illegal is illegal whether its profit or non-profit.

Im not getting into the legality thing, im just sayin’, non-profit means nothing.

4

In most peoples sets at least 80% of the music will be other peoples. Not only is illegal music awful quality, but also, we’re already being paid to play other peoples stuff, at least buy it from them in the first place! Its just good manners!

5

simple solution… buy your music. it’s not rocket science.

could be why i only have about 200 tracks at the moment - but how many do you need - and that u know inside and out anyway?

much cheaper than when i used to buy vinyl anyway… just sayin’…

6

To answer your question most venues are responsible to have the required license to play live music and copyrighted music. That is not always the case and the laws vary by country. But when in doubt talk to the promoter/owner of the venue. I wouldn’t bring up the whole pirated music and much as everyone else will tell you, please get it sorted out to go legit. It helps keep the industry alive.

7

Music industry is not based on tracks selling anymore, it’s all about even/shows.
Some artists like Uppermost understood that, and all (or most) of his tracks are free, it’s good for promotion.
Still, i understand that someone can be pissed if we illegaly download his track.

And about the cost of it, on beatport, i was “hey, i’m gonna buy my first EP ever”, and when i saw the fee to get lossless quality, + $11 added to the original $10, i was like, damn, gonna stick to illegal 320kbps.
You must hate me for that but well, it’s that or i wouldn’t spin anything.
Gear cost + tracks cost. I can’t download gear (unfortunatly :smiley:), i download tracks. (downloading in an illegal way).

I’m not proud of that, but until i finish my studies and get a monthly income, it’s what’s gonna happen.