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| Pay to play: PROs come collecting Posted: 02 Jul 2010 08:51 AM PDT
Performance rights organizations (PROs) such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESACare ramping up efforts to collect music license fees from independent restaurants and similar retailers that play in-shop music or host live music events. And they’re willing to go to court for them. Last week, ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)–which represents more than 380,000 songwriters–filed suit against 21 restaurants, bars, and nightclubs over copyright infringement, claiming they performed music of ASCAP members without obtaining a license or failed to pay a licensing fee to do so. Copyright law specifies that any venue that plays protected music, including recorded music, have a performance license. It covers a staggeringly large range of uses, from the casual jam session at your local coffee shop to a cheer leading competition at the Rose Bowl. PROs collect the fees from venues and distribute royalties to their members. This is nothing new. ASCAP has worked on behalf of its members since 1914 and has been a key voice in various copyright law revisions over the years. What is new is the free-falling music industry, which is prompting PROs to ramp up their collection activities. That means increased scrutiny on smaller businesses and nonprofits that play music, and those folks aren’t too happy about it. One Middleborough, Mass., cafe owner had to shutter a monthly open mike after PROs demanded a $332 annual fee. Coffeehouses across New England received multiple threatening letters and even had PRO reps walk through their doors demanding information. Many small business owners have since turned off their music completely to avoid further harrassment. It’s not the first time PROs have been decried for aggressively seeking license fees. As Joan Anderman points out in The Boston Globe, “The PROs have been criticized for years for their aggressive stance; in the mid-1990s ASCAP bowed to public outcry after attempting to collect licensing fees from the Girl Scouts for singing campfire songs. (They now charge the scouts a symbolic $1 a year.)” But PROs insist that retailers pony up what songwriters and publishers are due, since music adds value to their operations. Business owners don’t go to the electric company asking for free service. Why should they think the same of music? Penalties for playing a copyright-protected song without a license are steep, from $750 to $30,000 per song. ASCAP files up to 300 infringement lawsuits annually; BMI, 200. Most cases are settled out of court; those that do go to trial rarely go well for the defendant. Retailers aren’t the only ones feeling the PRO squeeze either. New England musicians have suddenly found large holes in their touring schedules as a result of venues putting the kibosh on their music programs. Because most small businesses can’t afford the annual fees requested by all three PROs, recent efforts have aimed to waive nonprofits, nontraditional venues, and coffeehouses with below-50 capacity from paying them. However, that could be some time coming. Creating a blanket awareness that music is indeed a commodity through the use of subpoenas seems a tad ominous, but it appears to be the dominant tool PROs will use for the forseable future. ~ Photo by Zach Alexander, used under a Creative Commons license. |
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