La Perla Café, Glendale, AZ Club Central, Phoenix, AZ Fat Fenders Grille and Saloon, Englewood, CO Renegades Country Bar, West Palm Beach, FL Sissy K's, Boston, MA Black Betty, Brooklyn, NY TC Hooligan's Bar & Grill, Rochester, NY Mad Frog, Cincinnati, OH Bob & Barbara's, Philadelphia, PA The Vault, Houston, TXAbout ASCAP Established in 1914, ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights Organization representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 260,000 composer, lyricist and music publisher members. ASCAP also represents the repertories created by the international affiliates of 70 foreign performing rights organizations. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances. ASCAP is the only American Performing Rights Organization owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. www.ascap.com
ASCAP Initiates Infringement Actions Against Establishments in Breach of License Agreements
| Source: ASCAP
NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- December 4, 2006 -- The American Society of Composers, Authors and
Publishers (ASCAP) today announced that it has filed 10 separate
infringement actions against nightclubs, bars and restaurants in 8 states.
In each of the cases filed today, the business establishment had signed a
license agreement with ASCAP, but failed to comply with the license's
payment terms. ASCAP reached out to each of the establishments repeatedly
over a significant period of time before taking legal action -- in some
cases over a period as long as two years. In every instance, the licensee
refused to pay the fees owed under the license, leaving ASCAP no choice but
to terminate the license for default. Thereafter, the businesses continued
to perform ASCAP members' music without permission, resulting in the filing
of the infringement actions.
ASCAP protects the rights of its members -- songwriters, lyricists,
composers and music publishers -- by licensing and distributing royalties
for the non-dramatic public performances of their copyrighted works. Those
licensed by ASCAP include any establishment or business that wants to
perform copyrighted music publicly.
"The situation with these establishments is certainly regrettable. But it
has long been ASCAP's experience that if we do not enforce our agreements
with club owners and other music users, many of them will simply continue
to avoid their obligations to comply with the law," said Vincent Candilora,
Senior Vice President of Licensing at ASCAP. "In the end, this really
hurts the individual songwriters who are also, in effect, 'small business
owners.'"
"Each of these establishments signed license agreements with ASCAP, clearly
recognizing and validating the importance of compensating music creators
for their work," added Candilora. "Their refusal, over a long period of
time, to comply with the license agreement they themselves acknowledged
puts ASCAP in the position of having to seek legal action so individual
songwriters and composers receive the revenue they deserve, and can
continue to bring new creative works to life."
Any business using copyrighted music has the opportunity to obtain
permission to do so lawfully, through acceptance of a license covering the
use of over 8 million copyrighted songs and compositions. Nearly 90% of
the license fees ASCAP collects are paid as royalties directly to ASCAP
members. The balance covers ASCAP's operating costs, which are among the
lowest in the world for a performing rights organization, and the lowest by
far in the U.S.
Frequently Asked Questions about licensing can be found on ASCAP's website
at http://www.ascap.com/licensing/licensingfaq.html.
The establishments (listed below) have performed publicly the copyrighted
musical works of ASCAP's songwriter, composer and music publisher members
without receiving their permission to do so, resulting in lost income for
these music creators.
Establishment, City, State