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Public Performance Royalties: If a song gets played in public (in nightclubs, at live concerts, on the radio, on television, etc.) the copyright owner of the musical work is entitled to payment for the performance of that song. However, in order to collect performance royalties, the songwriter usually needs to register as a member of a performance rights society, which will collect all royalties from the radio and television stations, nightclubs, live venues and other commercial establishments playing the songwriter’s music. There are three performance rights societies in the United States that collect performance royalties on behalf of songwriters: ASCAP (www.ascap.com), BMI (www.bmi.com) and SESAC (www.sesac.com). Songwriters can register with a performance rights society as soon as one of their songs is commercially recorded, offered for sale, or publicly performed. Performance rights organizations are not traditional music publishers and are only involved in the collection of performance royalties.

There is nothing I'm aware of in the law that says a songwriter has the right to pick and choose who can play their music. What if a songwriter said that no white people, or no black people can play their music? When I said "in the public domain" I was referring to the fact that the music had been released commercially to the public. This doesn't mean Young doesn't own it anymore. It means that others can use his music - if they pay royalties.