Yesterday we reported that BMI was in the process of suing several small town clubs and bars over licensing fees for music played in those venues.
Originally reported by TMZ , some of the targets or the alleged lawsuit were The Fox Hole in West Jordan, Utah, Mojo Main in Newark, Delaware, Whiskey River Ranch, Whiskey Bones Roadhouse in Rochester, Minnesota, Kildare’s Irish Pub in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Pig ‘N’ Whistle in NYC.
In an email that I just received from a PR contact at BMI, the company refutes the allegations that TMZ initially reported and would like to clear it up for the public. Their response reads:
In response to a story published today on celebrity news site, TMZ ,Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI) officials highlighted that the story misrepresents the organization’s values and mission while including a number of inaccuracies. BMI has requested a retraction from TMZ.
BMI is a privately held organization operating on a non-profit making basis. BMI represents the public performance rights of more than 600,000 songwriters, composers, and music publishers. BMI licenses the copyright for the musical works written by its members and also licenses music to 650,000 businesses and distributes royalties directly to the songwriters, composers, and music publishers it represents. United States copyright law requires that business owners who use music in their business secure permission from each songwriter or composer in order to legally play their music publicly. As a global music rights management firm, BMI grants copyright clearance to music usersformore than 7.5 million songs within the BMI repertoire through a single music license, so they don’t have to negotiate with each songwriter or composer individually for permission to play their music publicly.
BMI is not “entitled” to $150,000 in fees when a song within the BMI repertoire is played publicly without a license. BMI did not request $150,000 for an infringed work in any of these cases. The $150,000 penalty referred to by TMZ is actually the maximum statutory amount that the copyright owner can recover per infringement as permitted within the U.S. Copyright Act.The article misrepresents what BMI stands for along with the collaboration between performers and songwriters. Not all performers are songwriters and many songwriters that BMI represents make their living from their BMI royalties.
Furthermore, this article falsely represents the collaboration between performers and songwriters. Not all artists and performers are songwriters. This article inaccurately lists more than 20 artists and misrepresents them, assuming that they are all creators of musical works. The piece inaccurately suggests that these artists may be involved in litigation involving BMI. For more information please feel free to visit our licensing page at http://www.bmi.com/licensing/.
