ascap and imbibe in a spat
The Oregonian reports today that “A performance of the Jimi Hendrix classic, “The Wind Cries Mary,” may cost Michael Dorr his restaurant. Dorr, the 37-year-old owner of Imbibe on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, has been slapped with a federal lawsuit by companies that own the rights to a trio of popular classics that were performed at Dorr’s restaurant in 2005.
The songs at the center of the suit? Other than the Hendrix song, the music companies say Stevie Wonder’s “That Girl,” and a 1971 tune, “Slippin’ into Darkness.” Dorr says a rep from the American Society of Musicians and Publishers paid an unannounced visit to his restaurant one night and heard covers of the songs performed by local band, “Black Notes.” Because his place features local musicians and covers are rare, he didn’t think he had to pay the musicians and publishers group an estimated $2,000 to cover performances of copyrighted tunes. But the owners of the songs, including Wonder and Hendrix’s estate, say he does.
Now they’re suing Dorr for copyright infringement - and they’re seeking payment of between $750 and $30,000 for each song, along with attorney fees. “It’s basically going to bankrupt me and put me out of business,” Dorr said this morning. “I can’t afford the lawyer and the fees. It’s going to close me down.” The married father of two who opened Imbibe a couple of years ago said bands typically start playing after 10. But after Friday, the restaurant will do without live music because of the lawsuit.
“It’s a total bummer,” he said. “It’s scary for me and my family. The restaurant business is hard and on top of other things, business is slow. This is the icing on the cake.”
October 10th, 2006 at 6:07 am
that sucks…based on reading this it sounds like Imbibe falted one time in the face of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) not ASMP and will have to pay dearly. One wonders if they were warned or had previously had a license with ASCAP and did not renew, I cant imagine that they did not get a warning…I mean ASCAP is a little nicer than the RIAA.
October 11th, 2006 at 7:30 am
Bryan, what’s the cost to join ascap? and what’s the cost for a small business to license music from ascap? any idea….
October 11th, 2006 at 7:59 am
free for composers and publishers …. for businesses there is an annual fee. Rates are based on the manner in which the music is performed and the size of the establishment or potential audience for the music. Admission charges, seating, live or recorded are all factors in the annual amount, to which I am trying to find out roughly what that might be. I believe that when you lease a DMX sattelite radio system, the license is tied into the lease of the product, but I do not beleive that the license can be applied to any live music. I wish those ASCAP field reps educated the venues a little better. The funny thing is that there are 3 Perfoming Rights Organizations and ASCAP is one of them….dont forget your licenses from BMI and SESAC, people think that when they have an ASCAP license they are covered for all the songs in the world but that is not the case, domestically BMI and SESAC can sue your ass as well.
October 11th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
I was told by a friend that works at ASCAP and her comment was that generally speaking they only take legal action after countless attempts to get the venue to pay the licensing fees..meaning they send letters, visit the establishment etc. but in this case you never know.