is an infringement.

this should start with the copyright of music works. Music works belong to the protection scope of China's copyright law. According to Article 1 of the Copyright Law, the copyright owner (of a musical work) has the right to perform, that is, to publicly perform the work and to publicly broadcast the performance of the work by various means.

accordingly, the right to perform can be divided into "live performance" and "mechanical performance". Live performance refers to the act of a performer presenting his works to a live audience. Common such as: concerts, music festivals, shopping mall performances, bar singing performances, piano performances in cafes, etc.

mechanical performance refers to the act of using machinery and equipment to publicly play works. Common behaviors such as playing background music in shopping malls, hotels, dance halls, bars, restaurants, cafes, supermarkets, parks, video stores, airplanes, trains and other places.

Although these places generally don't get direct benefits from playing background music, they are obviously profitable. By playing background music, a relaxed atmosphere is created, thus improving consumers' satisfaction in the process of shopping (or receiving services), and in a certain sense, it can promote business sales, which is an indirect profit-making commercial use behavior.

Therefore, the act of playing music in these business premises should of course be bound by China's copyright law, and users need to pay the corresponding license fees to the copyright owners (or copyright-related rights holders) or copyright collective management organizations.

taking the broadcast of coffee shops as an example, how should businesses avoid infringement?

In the case of unknown music ownership, the music played in the coffee shop generally belongs to one of the following types:

1. Music authorized by CC ("Creative Commons"), that is, music whose copyright has been explicitly abandoned by the right holder (interested parties can search related websites by themselves);

2. Music for which music copyright society of china has been authorized to exercise copyright;

3. Independent music that is not authorized by the Music Association to exercise copyright;

4. Music that has entered the public domain and is not protected by copyright law (refers to works whose author has died for more than 5 years).

The possibility of using Category 1 and Category 4 music is low, but this kind of music is relatively unpopular and does not conform to the public's listening habits. Therefore, businesses play Category 2 and Category 3 works more often. If they want to play this music completely legally, they should pay the corresponding license fee to the obligee.

Some people may worry that even if I want to buy a license to use it, do I still have to search for the copyright owner of each song? How troublesome it is, is the business still going on? There is no need to worry about this problem. As long as you want to pay for the legal use of background music, you only need to apply to music copyright society of china.

according to official website of the association, they implement an annual package license fee (unlimited number of tracks, playing times, playing frequency, etc.) for the background music of mechanical performances. After paying the license fee, users can use music works worldwide (regardless of whether the works are entrusted to the Music Association for management). If a third party claims the right to perform their works mechanically, the association will bear corresponding legal responsibilities.

According to official website, the Music Association, the license fee depends on the size of the business premises. Take bars/cafes/restaurants as an example. If only mechanical performances are provided, the license fee is as follows:

(1) If the business area is less than 4 square meters, the daily fee is .25 yuan per square meter.

(2) If the business area exceeds 4 square meters, the additional part will be charged .2 yuan per square meter per day.

that is, if you pay 2.2 yuan every day for a coffee shop with an area of 1 square meters, you can play your favorite background music at will.

As for the licensing standards of other business premises, those who are interested can log on to music copyright society of china official website to inquire.