Ringtones are not public performances—and thus, wireless carriers do not have to pay the content owners every time one of them gets played—according to a ruling from US District Judge Denise Cote (via Ars Technica). The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) sued AT&T and other carriers earlier this year, in an attempt to try to get them to pay royalties every time a user’s ringtone was played. This is in addition to high download rates the carriers already pay for the 30-second song snippets.

ASCAP’s logic? That these plays were public performances, which meant that they deserved additional payment. But Cote struck down the claim today, ruling that the Copyright Act’s performance clause didn’t pertain to mobile carriers, since they had no control over when or how many time a ringtone got played—but also because they didn’t earn any revenue per-play themselves.

• Group Sues AT&T Over Ringtones Heard In Public