Need some advice on copyright law and performances...

I'd like to be able to use copyrighted songs for our monthly contests. But in order for me to share the winning entries with the world, I believe I need to pay a license fee. If you have experience with this (particularly related to hosting "interpreted" music on the web), please e-mail me at jason @ thereminworld.com

Yes you would no doubt need licenses and permissions to do it legally.
There is much information available on the internet, but it would take some doing to sort through it all and to know if it is accurate.

As Uncle Howie suggested, for your limited, nonprofit use it may be overlooked, but should you take the chance? Even though it's s a not-for-profit venture, there is the issue of it being downloaded and freely copied and distributed.

I'd suggest you first consult a qualified copyright attorney to find out exacty whats involved and if it would even be worth your while.

In the mean time, here's the websites of the organizations that really matter.

http://www.copyright.gov/

http://www.ascap.com/index.html

http://www.bmi.com/

http://www.sesac.com/index.aspx?flash=1

Good Luck!

Here's an organization that may be of some use (for a fee, no doubt) if you're interested in persuing this. I'm sure there are others like it.

I found this interesting little tidbit about Disney. I'll bet they have become wiser since then.

http://www.r-vcr.com/music/copyright/hire.htm

Thanks for the great tips. So, all those folks with MIDI files on their websites of copyrighted songs, [i]even if[/i] they made the arrangement themselves, are violating copyrights? Yeesh ;)

Yes...I've found several that have been shut down, at least temporarily, for that very reason. So, don't be fooled...THEY ARE watching.