Make ASCAP, BMI and SESAC accountable, and stop killing small business.
Make ASCAP, BMI and SESAC accountable, and stop killing small business.
The Issue
For years - decades in fact - there have been three main organizations collecting performance royalties on behalf of musical artists: ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. These organizations collect fees from bars, restaurants, small businesses, etc., where music is played or performed. Moreover, they typically utilize "mafia" style tactics to collect money, threaten (and sometimes pursue) expensive copyright lawsuits, and in many instances, put good people out of business.
In addition to these nefarious strong-arm tactics, there are fundamental issues with the entire system:
1. There is no way for them to figure out exactly what composition is being played in a bar or restaurant, every single night of the week, or even how many people are present, listening to the composition(s) in question.
2. There is no way for sure to tell where the money is going that they collect from these bars or restaurants or even if the money collected is actually going to the appropriate writer or composer.
3. They base their fees on "total occupancy," even those most of our bars and restaurants are rarely at capacity (and some never at capacity).
4. These organizations threaten lawsuits and scare the hell out of ordinary business owners, and in some cases, file copyright lawsuits which either (a) eliminate music altogether, or (b) put the company out of business, or (c) both. This includes even sending their operatives into businesses and applying strong-arm tactics to get businesses to cave in. The behavior is deplorable.
5. In actuality, some places feature original music almost exclusively. If those band and artists are wiling to waive their publishing/performance royalties, then the business owner should not have to pay these organizations fees which it can easily be shown their compositions are not being played. However, they try and get around this argument by again threatening copyright lawsuits, whereas some business owners do not understand this complex law but will cave in rather than fight on.
6. Rather than the venues having to pay these fees, performance artists (cover bands, etc), should be paying the fee to play the cover music they select, just like mechanical royalties that have to be paid when a recording is done. Juke boxes, like TouchTunes vendors, pay this fee - so why would a cover band be in any different? The answer is simple: the industry believes that restaurants and venues, mom and pop shops are easier targets for their extortion. And that's what it is, plain and simple, and they justify it by citing US copyright law, and scaring people into submission.
7 . The reason people LOSE lawsuits brought against them by these organizations is because they are copyright lawsuits, and there is no real way to fight that the way the licensing mechanism is set up. The system is fundamentally flawed, and must be changed.
It is time for someone to step up and take them on. The only way to do this is by taking OFFENSIVE action, rather than for someone to be sued for an alleged copyright violation and have to defend it. The action should be based on RICO at the very least - because these organizations have, together, simply figured out how to LEGALLY extort money from businesses just barely trying to stay afloat. MANY hundreds if not thousands of venues, restaurants, businesses, etc., across the country, would join in such a class action. The reason businesses cave in is because of the threat of $150K for each copyright violation and they just settle for usually thousands of dollars. They don't have the money to fight it. It will take a motivated, volunteer organization to mount a case to stop this travesty, and it will take an organized petition to get anyone's attention. It is not fair to the business owners, not fair to the artists, or the composers. NO one is being treated fairly, and the ONLY thing that is happening is that vast amounts of money are being collected with basically zero accountability.
Most business owners are interested in paying a FAIR license fee, and believe in compensating the writers and composers who bring us great music; however, the system needs to be completely scrapped and re-configured so it IS fair to all parties, and that the actual writers and publishers who compose the musical selections are paid, rather than having the money go into a black hole with no real accounting measures to see that an artist is actually paid, and in fact the correct artist. Additionally, the businesses themselves should not be liable for the fees - this should be on the part of the performers who are playing the compositions THEY select, so that there can actually be a real tracking mechanism rather than some grey area lining the pockets of executives, and real writers and composers never seeing a dime.
Join this fight against these organizations, and help put a stop to unfair and down right criminal behavior. It will take a lot of us to make this happen, but it CAN be done, and will benefit all parties, except of course the executives who no doubt are lining their pockets from businesses who are continually bullied.
THIS MUST STOP!
Below are just a few articles about the casualties of these organizations, and how big of a problem this really is:
http://www.theimproper.com/music/14440/tday-music-died-how-greed-killing-local-music-scene/
http://www.inlander.com/spokane/pay-to-play/Content?oid=2437583
http://www.onstagemagazine.com/bmi-sues-bar-for-cover-band-show-over-1-5m/#.VxD3EBIrLu0
The Issue
For years - decades in fact - there have been three main organizations collecting performance royalties on behalf of musical artists: ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. These organizations collect fees from bars, restaurants, small businesses, etc., where music is played or performed. Moreover, they typically utilize "mafia" style tactics to collect money, threaten (and sometimes pursue) expensive copyright lawsuits, and in many instances, put good people out of business.
In addition to these nefarious strong-arm tactics, there are fundamental issues with the entire system:
1. There is no way for them to figure out exactly what composition is being played in a bar or restaurant, every single night of the week, or even how many people are present, listening to the composition(s) in question.
2. There is no way for sure to tell where the money is going that they collect from these bars or restaurants or even if the money collected is actually going to the appropriate writer or composer.
3. They base their fees on "total occupancy," even those most of our bars and restaurants are rarely at capacity (and some never at capacity).
4. These organizations threaten lawsuits and scare the hell out of ordinary business owners, and in some cases, file copyright lawsuits which either (a) eliminate music altogether, or (b) put the company out of business, or (c) both. This includes even sending their operatives into businesses and applying strong-arm tactics to get businesses to cave in. The behavior is deplorable.
5. In actuality, some places feature original music almost exclusively. If those band and artists are wiling to waive their publishing/performance royalties, then the business owner should not have to pay these organizations fees which it can easily be shown their compositions are not being played. However, they try and get around this argument by again threatening copyright lawsuits, whereas some business owners do not understand this complex law but will cave in rather than fight on.
6. Rather than the venues having to pay these fees, performance artists (cover bands, etc), should be paying the fee to play the cover music they select, just like mechanical royalties that have to be paid when a recording is done. Juke boxes, like TouchTunes vendors, pay this fee - so why would a cover band be in any different? The answer is simple: the industry believes that restaurants and venues, mom and pop shops are easier targets for their extortion. And that's what it is, plain and simple, and they justify it by citing US copyright law, and scaring people into submission.
7 . The reason people LOSE lawsuits brought against them by these organizations is because they are copyright lawsuits, and there is no real way to fight that the way the licensing mechanism is set up. The system is fundamentally flawed, and must be changed.
It is time for someone to step up and take them on. The only way to do this is by taking OFFENSIVE action, rather than for someone to be sued for an alleged copyright violation and have to defend it. The action should be based on RICO at the very least - because these organizations have, together, simply figured out how to LEGALLY extort money from businesses just barely trying to stay afloat. MANY hundreds if not thousands of venues, restaurants, businesses, etc., across the country, would join in such a class action. The reason businesses cave in is because of the threat of $150K for each copyright violation and they just settle for usually thousands of dollars. They don't have the money to fight it. It will take a motivated, volunteer organization to mount a case to stop this travesty, and it will take an organized petition to get anyone's attention. It is not fair to the business owners, not fair to the artists, or the composers. NO one is being treated fairly, and the ONLY thing that is happening is that vast amounts of money are being collected with basically zero accountability.
Most business owners are interested in paying a FAIR license fee, and believe in compensating the writers and composers who bring us great music; however, the system needs to be completely scrapped and re-configured so it IS fair to all parties, and that the actual writers and publishers who compose the musical selections are paid, rather than having the money go into a black hole with no real accounting measures to see that an artist is actually paid, and in fact the correct artist. Additionally, the businesses themselves should not be liable for the fees - this should be on the part of the performers who are playing the compositions THEY select, so that there can actually be a real tracking mechanism rather than some grey area lining the pockets of executives, and real writers and composers never seeing a dime.
Join this fight against these organizations, and help put a stop to unfair and down right criminal behavior. It will take a lot of us to make this happen, but it CAN be done, and will benefit all parties, except of course the executives who no doubt are lining their pockets from businesses who are continually bullied.
THIS MUST STOP!
Below are just a few articles about the casualties of these organizations, and how big of a problem this really is:
http://www.theimproper.com/music/14440/tday-music-died-how-greed-killing-local-music-scene/
http://www.inlander.com/spokane/pay-to-play/Content?oid=2437583
http://www.onstagemagazine.com/bmi-sues-bar-for-cover-band-show-over-1-5m/#.VxD3EBIrLu0
Petition Closed
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Petition created on April 15, 2016