Comments on: Restaurants sued for playing music without ASCAP/BMI licenses

By: Gordon Firemark

Gordon Firemark — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:25:25 +0000

True enough, but if playing music through a P.A. System, the business is supposed to pay royalties.

By: Sued for playing Christmas music? - Page 13 - Religious Education Forum

Sued for playing Christmas music? - Page 13 - Religious Education Forum — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:22:04 +0000

[...] big bank is a big target. Avoid Getting Sued for Playing Music for your Business | Erich Fackert Restaurants sued for playing music without ASCAP/BMI licenses | Law Offices of Gordon P. Firemark | … Business & Technology | Music licensing group’s targets include local restaurants | Seattle [...]

By: Felix Werner

Felix Werner — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 06:06:02 +0000

I didn’t mean “had to” be on. I meant could be on, to recieve emergency broadcasts, weather updates news, etc.
Likewise for TV’s, take out the speaker and turn on the Closed Caption.

By: Gordon Firemark

Gordon Firemark — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:32:54 +0000

That is flat-out false. Not true.

By: Felix Werner

Felix Werner — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:34:13 +0000

It has been decided that radios must be on at all times in order to recieve breaking news and Emergency Broadcasting System announcements. No entity can tell you to turn it off, or charge you to have it on. Sorry.

By: eileen

eileen — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:57:57 +0000

No this is not an accurate comparison for music is not anything at all like electricity, food, etc…where electricity is concerned it is clear who is providing the service and clear who is to be paid for such a service. Music on the other hand in general that isnt clearly owned by anyone, particularly in the case of folk music for example Irish Traditional music which has no copyright with anonymous authors in 90% of what is played due to the ancient origin of such music, is not clearly owned by anyone and so is not the same as charging for electric, food, etc…

By: Joe Bedink

Joe Bedink — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 03:41:06 +0000

You are full of it. There is a minimum fee of over $300. That’s hardly “inexpensive”, unless you are getting your money thru racketeering, which BMI & Ascap do.

By: Ernie

Ernie — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 23:35:27 +0000

If I hire a band and or Karaoke DJ, and the music they play is not word for word or note for note doesn’t that make it their work of art? And that being said, they would be the ones I would need to pay, which I already would be doing? Also, If I hire a cover band and I don’t make any additional money that night, does ASCAP pay me for the loss that their artist caused me? It seems that ASCAP is a way of double, and tripple dipping for payment. Next I suppose I’ll have to pay royalties for those anoiying commercials that play when Im trying to watch TV.

By: Danie

Danie — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:03:03 +0000

How does a local band subscribe to the proper license to perform 60 “cover” songs 24-50 times per year wherever they find work to perform in restaraunts, bars and in public festivals. While some of these venues already have ASCAP licensing, some smaller coffee shops, restaraunts and the like do not. How does a band make certain that they have their own ASCAP license to perform where they wish in public. How much does such a license cost?

By: robohara.com » Music and MTV and YouTube and Stuff

robohara.com » Music and MTV and YouTube and Stuff — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:04:30 +0000

[...] and threatening to sue them for playing the radio without paying for a performance license. This was going on in 2007, and there are no signs of them stopping. This year, over 50 bars have been sued by BMI for [...]