ASSCRAP UPDATE:

ASSCRAP (the Attorneys Society Scheming to Collect Royalties And Payoffs), a New York organization that owns the rights to such classic Christmas songs as "White Christmas", and "Grandma Got Runned Over By A Reindeer" has issued a press release warning Christmas Carolers and others that they must pay ASSCRAP dues in order to use the songs, or be hauled into court on criminal charges and be sent to prison for up to 15 years.
Owners of nightclubs across the US and in the Houston area have complained that ASSCRAP has been aggressively collecting money from any business where there is a radio or television, claiming that the music played during Monday Night Football is ASSCRAP's, and the theme song to shows like "Hello, Larry", "Friends", "Dharma & Greg", and "Green Acres". The business owner must therefore pay hundreds of dollars in fees. If you even play a small transistor radio behind the counter, ASSCRAP will threaten legal action if you don't pay up.
ASSCRAP is in a period of growth, during which they have been accused of using "high handed" tactics to collect money from "mom and pop" small businesses. They have also been accused of unfairness in the way they distribute money to the composers and writers. They have, however, been treated very favorably by the courts in New York City, where their headquarters are located, and they have "friends in low places".
Club owners who do not want to pay ASSCRAP can not allow their music to be heard on the premises. Since there is no way of knowing which songs are theirs, ask the ASSCRAP representative to provide you with a complete list, alphabetized by name and artist. If he can't provide this list, how are you to avoid using their music? The rude thing club owners have told me is that ASSCRAP "assumes" that ALL bars owe them, send nasty threatening letters, and base their fees on seating capacity, not actual attendance.
They vigorously collect from radio stations, jukeboxes, TV stations, producers, publishers, and other sources. They pay composers royalties based on an arcane complicated formula that has been attacked as unfair and arbitrary - and composers must pay dues too!
Several years ago, Bob Mills told me what he said to the ASSCRAP guy that kept hassling him: "When Dolly Parton was going around singing all those Kitty Wells songs, nobody ever had to pay Kitty Wells a damned cent, as long as it was not recorded. Now you are collecting money for Dolly? She never paid, so why should she get anything? Get out of my bar before I throw you out you blood sucking piece of shit!". Bob later vanished alà Jimmy Hoffa.
The ASSCRAP strategy is worst for musicians, since it adds to the cost of providing live bands. It causes fewer bands to get gigs, they get paid less. They are up there with holes in their shoes, old ratty guitars, living like migrant farmworkers. It is a cash flow that goes directly from Texas to New York City. That money never ever comes back here.
Our legislature should make ASSCRAP buy a license in every county for each collector, at some high fee, like $2,500 a year. Georgia did so a couple of years ago, and has the satisfaction of "rescuing" some of this negative cash flow. There are less ASCRAP guys boiling around Georgia just hassling all the little guys too.…

At any rate, be careful what songs you sing this Christmas - it may cost you!