What do you mean..."I can't pay my iPod to provide background music in my restaurant?"
Most restaurant and bar owners never consider the legality of playing the radio or their iPod playlists for their customers, let alone concerning themselves as to whether their cover bands are properly licensed.
Songs are copyrighted, meaning that they are owned by the people who created them. When you purchase a CD or download a song from iTunes, you are in effect purchasing a license to listen to the song but not broadcast it to the public. When you play the radio or your iTunes playlist over the restaurant’s sound system without a license, you may be in violation of the law and could theoretically face court fines ranging from $750 to $30,000 for each song ‘infringed upon.’
Likewise, owners cannot shift the responsibility for obtaining proper licenses to musicians and bands that perform at their establishment. The law is broadly written so as to include all ‘participants’ in the music’s distribution, which means that owners are still liable so long as the music was played to their customers.
On the bright side, there is an licensing exemption for restaurant, bars, taverns and nightclubs where the music is played over the radio or television if the establishment has less than 3,750 gross square feet. Larger establishments still get the exemption if the music is broadcast over no more than six speakers located in any one room or outdoor space. It the music source comes from a television, the exemption limits an establishment to no more than four 55” or smaller televisions, none of which can be located in the same room.
Depending on the music catalog of interest to you, licenses can be obtained from ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers); SESAC (Society of European Stage Authors & Composers), or BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.). Notably, it would appear difficult to obtain a license from just one of the above groups since each group licenses over one million songs meaning you are bound to play a song licensed by some other group.
Please call Attorney James DiPasquale at (646) 343-4607, for a free consultation. |