… at least not in the US.  Public performances of musical works are subject to copyright.  That leads to things like copyright fees being payable when a hair salon or dentist plays a CD .   The EFF reports that a US federal court ruled yesterday that  ”when a ringtone plays on a cellular telephone, even when that occurs in public, the user is exempt from copyright liability, and [the cellular carrier] is not liable either secondarily or directly”. 

Seems that ASCAP wanted public performance royalties for ringtones.