19.25.030 - Use of recording of live performance without consent of owner unlawful -- Fine and penalty.

Use of recording of live performance without consent of owner unlawful — Fine and penalty.

(1) A person commits an offense if the person:

     (a) For commercial advantage or private financial gain advertises, offers for sale, sells, rents, transports, causes the sale, resale, rental, or transportation of or possesses for one or more of these purposes a recording of a live performance with the knowledge that the live performance has been recorded or fixed without the consent of the owner; or

     (b) With the intent to sell for commercial advantage or private financial gain records or fixes or causes to be recorded or fixed on a recording a live performance with the knowledge that the live performance has been recorded or fixed without the consent of the owner.

     (2)(a) An offense under this section is a class B felony punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars, imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both, if:

     (i) The offense involves at least one thousand unauthorized recordings embodying sound or at least one hundred unauthorized audiovisual recordings during a one hundred eighty-day period; or

     (ii) The defendant has been previously convicted under this section.

     (b) An offense under this section is a class C felony punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars, imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, if the offense involves more than one hundred but less than one thousand unauthorized recordings embodying sound or more than ten but less than one hundred unauthorized audiovisual recordings during a one hundred eighty-day period.

     (c) Any other offense under this section is a gross misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.

     (3) In the absence of a written agreement or law to the contrary, the performer or performers of a live performance are presumed to own the rights to record or fix those sounds.

     (4) For the purposes of this section, a person who is authorized to maintain custody and control over business records that reflect whether or not the owner of the live performance consented to having the live performance recorded or fixed is a competent witness in a proceeding regarding the issue of consent.

     (5) This section does not affect the rights and remedies of a party in private litigation.

[2003 c 53 § 144; 1991 c 38 § 3; 1974 ex.s. c 100 § 3.]

Notes: Intent -- Effective date -- 2003 c 53: See notes following RCW 2.48.180.