14 Aug
2017
14 Aug
'17
4:56 p.m.
I started a group that ran a small dance series and we did have CDSS
liability insurance. Some venues required it, but the ones we used
the most often didn't. The potential downside just seemed too large
compared to the cost of the insurance.
I haven't heard of any lawsuits, though I have heard of injuries.
E.g., at one dance there was a guy who would jump up and come down
hard on both feet, who landed on a woman's foot, breaking a bone,
which was a life-changing injury for her. I have also heard of
dipping-related back injuries, and had my own nose broken and gotten a
concussion.
Another organizer once told me that as a lawyer, he was surprised at
how there weren't any lawsuits he had heard of related to contra
dances, and that if the same injuries had occurred at Wal-Mart, it
would almost surely be the case.
There have been a few groups approached around the southeast at least,
by some music-industry related group. From what I have heard, some of
them fought it and at least one of them paid. One group said they
actually had a rep out to investigate, but when he heard the contra
dance music, figured out that the group was being serious when they
said they weren't playing Justin Bieber, et al.
Having put on some dances that utilized copyrighted music recordings
for our Electroflow series, the strategy was to get the callers
Callerlab licensing. It might have been more cost-effective to try to
get a license for the group, but I didn't want to approach a huge
conglomerate as an individual and get on their radar.
On Mon, Aug 14, 2017 at 12:38 PM, John W Gintell via Organizers
<organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I am wondering whether most dance series have
liability insurance - particularly small ones.
Insurance for a dance series from CDSS costs $450, $550, … depending on the number of
dances plus $85 membership fee every year. I suspect other sources would be more
expensive. For a small dance with few financial reserves, the extra fees each year could
easily drive it to extinction.
I know that sone venues require that the group has insurance, but not all do.
What is the risk of not having it? Any recent incidents in the past few years?
I’d think possible suits could be from dancers or musicians/callers who got injured or
thought they were treated badly, venues where there was damage to the site.
What about ASCAP copy infringement suits? Have there been any of these?
Anything else?
John
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net