Do restaurants and bars need a license to play Christmas music?

Holiday songs follow the same rules

Copyright law gives the owner of a song the sole right “to perform the copyrighted work publicly” (17 U.S.C. §106(4)). Playing a song in public is called a public performance. The law says a song is played “publicly” when it is played “at a place open to the public”. It is also played publicly “at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered” (17 U.S.C. §101, definitions). In short: a place open to the public, or a place where many people beyond family and friends get together. Neither section has special rules for holiday music.

Many of the most famous holiday songs are new enough to still be under copyright. ASCAP made a 2025 chart of its 25 most-played holiday songs. It says ASCAP songwriters and composers wrote, co-wrote or arranged all of them. The list includes “Sleigh Ride” (1948), “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1949), “White Christmas” (1941) and “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (1994) (ASCAP’s 2025 holiday charts, as reported by BroadwayWorld, December 11, 2025). All of them were written after the public-domain cutoff explained below. ASCAP is a performing rights organization (PRO): a group that licenses songs to be played in public. Each PRO licenses only its own catalog. Do I need ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and GMR? explains how the four fit together.

Old carols: the song, the arrangement, the recording

Copyright on old works does run out. When it ends, the work is in the public domain. The U.S. Copyright Office says that “all works published in the United States before January 1, 1931, are in the public domain” (U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 15A, revised April 2026). Works published in 1930 entered the public domain on January 1, 2026 (Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain, Public Domain Day 2026). But the Office warns that “there are a number of exceptions” to this general rule. In many cases, it says, you should ask a copyright attorney before you decide if a work is still under copyright (U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 22, How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work, revised April 2026).

A venue rarely plays the bare carol. It plays one arrangement of it, in one recording. Each of these layers is looked at on its own:

The song

The words and music, as they were first published. If they were published in the US before 1931, the rule above applies to them.

The arrangement

An arrangement is a new version of a song. The Copyright Act calls a “musical arrangement” a derivative work. That is a work based on an earlier one (17 U.S.C. §101). Copyright in a new version “extends only to the material contributed by the author of such work” (17 U.S.C. §103(b)). So it covers only what the arranger added. Part of a work can be in the public domain. Even then, the Copyright Office warns, you may not use the new material added to it without permission. It must come from whoever owns the copyright in the new version (Circular 22). ASCAP’s 2025 chart credits two songs to their arrangers. One is “Jingle Bells” (Frank Sinatra version, arranged by Gordon Jenkins, 1958). The other is “Deck the Halls” (Nat King Cole version, arranged by Nat King Cole and Leland Gillette, 1960).

The recording

A recording usually holds two works. One is the song (or other work) being performed. The other is the recorded sound of that performance (Circular 22). Duke gives an example. The song “Georgia on My Mind” was published in 1930 and is now free to perform. “But the later recordings by Ray Charles and by Tiny Tim are still copyrighted” (Duke, Public Domain Day 2026). The law gives a recording a narrower right to be played in public than it gives a song. The right covers playing the recording in public “by means of a digital audio transmission” (17 U.S.C. §106(6)). And the rights in a sound recording “do not include any right of performance under section 106(4)” (17 U.S.C. §114(a)).

So is a given track of an old carol free to play? That depends on facts the playlist rarely shows: who arranged it, when, and how it reaches your speakers. The Copyright Office says a search of its records is not always the final word (Circular 22). For a firm answer on a specific track, ask a licensed copyright attorney.

Holiday playlists, parties and TVs

A personal streaming account

Spotify gives permission for “personal, non-commercial use” (Spotify End User Agreement, section 3). YouTube’s terms say you may listen for personal, non-commercial use. They also say you may not publicly screen videos or stream music from the service (YouTube Terms of Service). A holiday playlist on a personal plan has the same terms as any other. More in Can I play Spotify in my restaurant or bar?

Holiday parties, DJs and live bands

SESAC says a business that plays music in public needs permission first. Its owner or operator must get it. “Paying the band does not cover you for that; your business must have authorization,” it says. What about rented or leased areas? SESAC says copyright law and case law put the duty on the owner or operator of the business (SESAC FAQ). GMR says the owner or operator is responsible for the music played there. It adds that paying the performers does not remove your need for a license (Global Music Rights FAQ). More in Do I need a license for live music, DJs or karaoke?

Holiday radio and TV specials

A narrow exemption covers some radio and TV. It applies to radio or TV from a station that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has licensed as a broadcast station. For video, it also covers a cable system or satellite carrier. Size and equipment limits apply (17 U.S.C. §110(5)(B)). The law names broadcast stations, cable systems and satellite carriers. It does not name streaming services. The limits are explained in Is my venue exempt from music licensing?