File:Radio copyright problem cartoon - Radio News May 1925.png

English: Editorial cartoon in 1925 radio magazine about the issue of the rights to on-air performances. When radio broacasting first began in 1920, live or recorded music was performed on air without regard to its copyright status. As broadcasting became a big business, the sheet music publishers (center), who owned the rights to most music, began suing stations for copyright infringement, keeping many popular tunes of the Jazz Age from being performed on the air. Listeners were understandably incensed. The cartoon shows a rich publisher (center) barring access by two performers to the radio station microphone (left). After court decisions settled that a radio performance came under the copyright of the original work, royalty payments by the radio networks were worked out.