Legal Question in Entertainment Law in Kentucky

Re: Setting Up Online Radio

The key is to have the requisite permission from the copyright holder(s) to perform their works publicly. In the U.S., the options are complex. You may obtain direct permission (which can be cumbersome, given the large number of authors involved), or obtain licenses from the applicable rights organizations in the U.S. But because you plan to focus on music from Japanese authors, it may be that the U.S. rights organizations do not represent them. In any event, you may wish to discuss your plan with the Japanese equivalent performance rights organization, JASRAC (http://www.jasrac.or.jp) to see whether licensing direct from Japan would be more efficient. JASRAC may have affiliations with U.S.-based organizations such as ASCAP. Whatever you do, get permission first, because the penalties for infringement under U.S. law can be severe.

(I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.)