Music Scams

[BOBBYTIN]

just been hit bye the so called music police,after 9pm a gang of9 men came the usual story,frightened wife,crying kid,police,pay,my question if anyone can help is what is the law on entering your business at night team handed,lawyers here seem to be guessing,who are these music police,the company they say has the right to do this,the name is rkt publishing,i would be grateful if anyeone can shed some light on this

[richardt1808]

helloooo....

There is a state of emergency and and a curfew in effect ! I dont think the real police would be running around town checking music licenses at this time!!!

Under emergency regulations, I would think that the army has the right to enter any place in order to maintain security, but other than that police require a warrant in order to enter your home. If you are talking about an entertainment place, they may have the right to enter to check permits etc at any time, but you dont give enough information for us to judge the full story.

How about you write your post again in clear English with all the details.

[BOBBYTIN]

helloooo....

There is a state of emergency and and a curfew in effect ! I dont think the real police would be running around town checking music licenses at this time!!!

Under emergency regulations, I would think that the army has the right to enter any place in order to maintain security, but other than that police require a warrant in order to enter your home. If you are talking about an entertainment place, they may have the right to enter to check permits etc at any time, but you dont give enough information for us to judge the full story.

How about you write your post again in clear English with all the details.

sorry i was not clear enough,two days ago 9 men arrived at our guesthouse,we were having a party as some local people were leaving,on entering our restaurant they demanded to see my wife,they said they were here to collect copyright fees,i was playing music via the internet,they said they were allowed by law to enter and take away our computers.i add that we are in the south of thailand,no curfew here.i asked for id from all of them,the one who was doing the talking produced an id from R K T publishing,one of the others said he was police and flashed a card,the other 7 men we were told did not have to show us,i tried to take video but they said we could not,that it would only make things worse,they then unplugged our computer and took my wife and daughter to the police station,36km away.after lots of talking they made us buy a 5000b license from there company,and we had to pay 15000b ,no receipt,we said we would go to court but they convinced my wife she could go to jail, have since been trying to find out more about this company,it seems if they catch you playing one of their registered artists they can penalize you,their artists are thai,we only play farang music,i have been trying to find out exactly which license i need as we want to do everything by the book,but is almost impossible,thank you for your interest

[likewise]

Where in the South are you?

[richardt1808]

helloooo....

sorry i was not clear enough,two days ago 9 men arrived at our guesthouse,we were having a party as some local people were leaving,on entering our restaurant they demanded to see my wife,they said they were here to collect copyright fees,i was playing music via the internet,they said they were allowed by law to enter and take away our computers.i add that we are in the south of thailand,no curfew here.i asked for id from all of them,the one who was doing the talking produced an id from R K T publishing,one of the others said he was police and flashed a card,the other 7 men we were told did not have to show us,i tried to take video but they said we could not,that it would only make things worse,they then unplugged our computer and took my wife and daughter to the police station,36km away.after lots of talking they made us buy a 5000b license from there company,and we had to pay 15000b ,no receipt,we said we would go to court but they convinced my wife she could go to jail, have since been trying to find out more about this company,it seems if they catch you playing one of their registered artists they can penalize you,their artists are thai,we only play farang music,i have been trying to find out exactly which license i need as we want to do everything by the book,but is almost impossible,thank you for your interest

Okay, that's better. If you are playing music in public venue, especially of the kareoke-type, you are required to have a license. All of the legal kareoke places and many restaurants are now displaying them prominently. While the police or licensing authority are allowed to enter your premises with the purpose of checking your license, it does seem that your visitors were doing a bit more than that.

Its a pity that you dont have video surveillance - maybe have some fake cameras installed at least, so that if it were to happen again then they may be a bit better behaved. I am not sure of the specific license terms involved here, so it would be a good idea for you to approach the Commerce department and ask them for details. Hopefully some other members may have more detailed information for you as well.

Cheers

[steelepulse]

I seem to recall a few threads like this in the Phuket forum, so do a search there and you'll find what they can legally do and don't. Sounds like these guys were on the hustle with no receipt and threats of jail.

[Penkoprod]

If you search here using the words "music licence" as the keywords, it will bring up quite a few posts on this very subject.

While you may, or may not have needed a licence to play music from a stream "over the internet", as you say, this approach by these so called "music police" is both heavy handed and easily cured, reading some of the posts about it.

The reason they asked to speak with your wife was the fear factor, Thais tend to crumple when faced with some sort of badge wearing "authority" one on one. (Mob handed like they were must have been terrifying for your wife) And also on a foreigners ignorance of the law.

Search as above, and it will make interesting reading indeed !!!!!

Penkoprod

[BOBBYTIN]

helloooo....

sorry i was not clear enough,two days ago 9 men arrived at our guesthouse,we were having a party as some local people were leaving,on entering our restaurant they demanded to see my wife,they said they were here to collect copyright fees,i was playing music via the internet,they said they were allowed by law to enter and take away our computers.i add that we are in the south of thailand,no curfew here.i asked for id from all of them,the one who was doing the talking produced an id from R K T publishing,one of the others said he was police and flashed a card,the other 7 men we were told did not have to show us,i tried to take video but they said we could not,that it would only make things worse,they then unplugged our computer and took my wife and daughter to the police station,36km away.after lots of talking they made us buy a 5000b license from there company,and we had to pay 15000b ,no receipt,we said we would go to court but they convinced my wife she could go to jail, have since been trying to find out more about this company,it seems if they catch you playing one of their registered artists they can penalize you,their artists are thai,we only play farang music,i have been trying to find out exactly which license i need as we want to do everything by the book,but is almost impossible,thank you for your interest

Okay, that's better. If you are playing music in public venue, especially of the kareoke-type, you are required to have a license. All of the legal kareoke places and many restaurants are now displaying them prominently. While the police or licensing authority are allowed to enter your premises with the purpose of checking your license, it does seem that your visitors were doing a bit more than that.

Its a pity that you dont have video surveillance - maybe have some fake cameras installed at least, so that if it were to happen again then they may be a bit better behaved. I am not sure of the specific license terms involved here, so it would be a good idea for you to approach the Commerce department and ask them for details. Hopefully some other members may have more detailed information for you as well.

Cheers

thank you again,i dont play karaoke,i stream music off the internet,kind of like radio that yo can choose,contacted the company head who said he was shocked and would get to the bottom of it,he admits the license they sold is not any use to me,one hour later got phone call from the one who did the raid,he is not a happy camper ad there were the usual undertones,veiled threats.contacted chamber of commerce wait to get back to me,we are near phuket,this is quite regular hear apparently

[BOBBYTIN]

Where in the South are you?

nr phuket

[ozzieovaseas]

Where in the South are you?

are you on this planet?..might be more adept

[BOBBYTIN]

Where in the South are you?

are you on this planet?..might be more adept

im sure there is a meaning to your comment why not clarify,obviosly i am missing something