(update) We got nowhere....

A few days ago, I posed a question to the CRIA about using music clips in a podcast I may produce soon.

Well, I got an answer. Highlights:

When you create a podcast, you are broadcasting a reproduction of a sound recording. A podcast is, in effect, a broadcast of a sound recording, which is not a personal use. The Copyright Act permits you to make a private copy of a sound recording you have purchased for your personal use; e.g. a copy on your iPod for you to listen to. When you podcast that sound recording, you are making that copy a public copy, which is not a right automatically granted to you by the purchase of a CD. Only the copyright holder has the authority to permit its sound recordings to be reproduced for the purpose of performance to the public. In order to license your podcasts, you would need permission from the copyright holders.

An excerpt of my response:

I think you may have missed the point of the question. I think I am aware of what restrictions exist on the use of music for broadcast. I have noticed that licensing for broadcast seems to only be necessary when the broadcast is being performed in the course of a business, such as radio, digital music channel on cable TV, DJ service, etc. My scenario does not involve the broadcast of entire pieces of music. It potentially involves posting a narrative. This would be mixed with short snippets of the music itself. I am also doing this for free, as a hobby. There is no way a reasonable person would consider this a usable copy of the music, especially considering it would be tainted with my voiceover.

This seems to fall under the definition of fair use (or fairplay as it's called in Canada), as it could be regarded as a review or critique of the artist. I have even come across podcasts produced by people writing for legitimate national news/entertainment organizations who seem to have gotten away with doing this very same thing.

If I invite some friends over to my home and audition new music for them, I don't need permission to do so. If I go to the beach or a park and bring a portable stereo to listen to my music - if others nearby can listen in, I am not doing anything illegal. If someone is interfacing their portable music player with their car radio using an FM transmitter, there is a chance occupants of another vehicle driving in the same direction could listen in, but this seems perfectly legal. The only difference between these examples and my potential podcasts are the size of the audience. In none of these cases could a music collector make a 'usable' copy worth keeping.

I got an answer within hours. The answer essentially: Consult a copyright lawyer. Translation - you made your point, now go away. My next step - contact the record companies themselves. Stay tuned......