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Re: [ARSCLIST] ASCAP follows RIAA down the road guaranteed not to make friends
(Full Disclosure: I worked for BMI over 8 years until figuring out that I liked music too much to stay there)
Sadly, this really isn't anything new. And it did backfire for the performing rights organizations (PROs) about 10 years ago. From what I understand, BMI filed an infringement lawsuit on a restaurant owner in Wisconsin who happened to be the brother-in-law of Sen. James Sensenbrenner. This got the restaurant lobby and Congress all riled up, plus the whole Sony Bono Act was going down. The end result was that the National Restaurant Association (the other NRA) got some performing rights exemptions put into the Bono Act, mainly dealing with off-air radio play in businesses or the so-called "double dipping."
Toward the end of my tenure at BMI, I do remember them negotiating a new licenses with the NRA and other restaurant and hotel/hospitality industry groups. This seemed like the route that BMI figured was more agreeable and effective. Whether or not they still due that is unknown to me. Also, I recall that the real bugaboo license was with the music-on-hold/background music services, whose rates were extremely outdated (as of about 2003). Hmmmmm.
John H. Bondurant
Sound Preservation Archivist
Hutchins Library, Special Collections & Archives
Berea College
CPO LIB
Berea, KY 40404
john_bondurant@xxxxxxxxx
Office: 859-985-3389
Fax: 859-985-3912
-----Original Message-----
From: Steven Smith, King of the House, Inc. [mailto:kingofthehouse@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wed 8/1/2007 6:15 PM
Subject: Re: ASCAP follows RIAA down the road guaranteed not to make friends
You know, this is nothing new, dumb as it might be.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Fine" <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 2:29 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] ASCAP follows RIAA down the road guaranteed not to make
friends
> http://tinyurl.com/3bzguo
>
> I'd love to know what genius lawyer came up with this tactic, especially
since it's backfired in
> spades against the RIAA. Keep it up and even grandmas will feel it's OK to
stiff "those jerks" and
> steal music. How deep do these fools think a bar-owners pockets are? If
they get back enough money
> to feed one musician for one month, I'll be surprised.
>
> One man's opinion, etc.
>
> -- Tom Fine