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June 30, 2010

Portland club in court over music fees

By The Mainebiz News Staff

A nightclub in Portland is one of 21 being sued by a national organization that collects royalty payments for songwriters.

Empire Dine and Dance on Congress Street is being sued by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, which claims the club failed to sign a licensing agreement and pay annual fees for the performance of copyrighted material, according to the Portland Press Herald. ASCAP, one of three U.S.-based organizations that collects royalty fees, is seeking $13,280 in unpaid fees from Empire Dine and Dance, which opened in 2007. ASCAP, which distributes the fees to its more than 380,000 members, says it has tried to get the club to sign a licensing agreement since May 2008. Copyright law requires that venues that publicly play music by those members hold a performance license.

Todd Doyle, co-owner and general manager of Empire Dine and Dance, said he first heard of ASCAP when the lawsuit was filed Friday, and that the club thought it was adhering to regulations since it was already paying BMI, one of the other royalty-collecting organizations. Doyle told the paper the amount ASCAP is seeking "seems incredibly unfair."

Go to the article from the Portland Press Herald >>

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