Chris Abbott wrote:GEMA = Copyright Agency of Germany...
I don't know if you got that right Chris, but actually the GEMA cares a shit about copyrights, violations and stuff.
It's basically about mechanical reproduction rights.
They only collect money from publishers to give it back to artists and - now comes the clue - only those artists who are members of the GEMA. You don't need a license for pressing CDs, you just need to report the content to the GEMA you wish to copy and they check if it's GEMA-licensed. (If it is, you'll receive a nice bill regarding the amount of copies you wish to publish...) Any music made by members of the GEMA is GEMA-licensed, anything else is GEMA-free music.
The GEMA are bloodsuckers. Any salonkeeper who plays radio in his pub has to pay a fee to the GEMA. From any blank CD you buy the GEMA gets a certain amount of money.
You know why I'm not a member of the GEMA? I had to pay them for publishing my own music on my website.
![Mad :x](./images/smilies/icon_mad.gif)
And the biggest salaries at the end of the year get those artists who are the wealthy ones anyway.