Hotel requires DJ license & certifications?

Knottie_22381897

The hotel where my sister is having her reception has asked to have copies of the DJ's business license and certifications that he has the appropriate copyrights to play the music.  The man that will be the DJ played at my wedding 6 years ago and the last place didn't ask us for these things.  He does this on the side (is our parent's age--used to do it a lot more when he was younger--before the whole recent copyright issue thing---doubt he knows how to even download music) and probably doesn't have a business license.  Has anyone run into this issue?  Any advice?  This man is a long-time family friend of ours and is doing the wedding as a favor to us...

Leah&Christian09

I would call him and ask him.  It's generally illegal to run a business without the appropriate license, so he should have one.  If he doesn't, it looks like you'll have to make a choice between the venue and the DJ.

lyndausvi

yeah.. that might be bad.  I know our resort requires the same thing.  As an outside vendor they need to make sure he has a license and insurance in case something goes wrong. (someone trips over a cord, speaker falls, etc).  The hotel does not want to be held responsible when it's someone else's equipment and setup.

ksn56

We had similar situation. Our venue of choice required license and insurance on all vendors. Caterer was parent’s friend who does it on the side - had insurance but not license. I spoke with the venue and they wouldn’t budge. We ended up switching but of cost of ‘their’ caterers. First ask if he has the stuff then talk to the venue. In the end she may have to choose - dj or venue.