The cramped, randomly-booked LES venue Pianos was apparently served with papers earlier this week indicating that BMI and a "collection of labels and artists" were suing the club for playing, without license, the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" and, of course, "Final Countdown," among other tracks that pretty much explain why we don't go in there that often. The petty suit, which above all probably just indicates what dire, desperate, money-grubbing straights major labels are presently in, alleges Pianos caused "great and incalculable damage" by not securing the rights to the various Weezer songs it blasted out on to Ludlow at all hours of the day and night. Cityfile pegs the actual cost of these rights at around a dollar a day; Gothamist asked an ASCAP VP and were told "the average annual license fee for all bars, restaurants, nightclubs and similar establishments is less than $2.50 a day. With a maximum annual cost of $912.50." In other words, cheaper than the lawyer the venue must now presumably obtain. Actual documents below.
Wow. Zack and Tom have pretty much no credibility now. Though perhaps they didn't before. Surely Pianos should probably pay these really lame fees, but it just goes to show how much Rivers and the aforementioned RATM guys are major label tools.
The artists are not suing Pianos. Rivers, Zack, Tom, Bret Michaels et al. probably have no idea this is happening. And regarding the headline, BMI is not a label.
BMI is one of several companies -- ASCAP and SESAC are the others -- that collect performance royalties for songwriters. There are too many forms of public performance, from radio play to cover bands to radio stations pumped in to clothing stores, for songwriters or their representatives to track it all and make sure they're being paid what they're owed under the law for such usage of their work. So they sign up with one of these companies, whose sole purpose is to collect and distribute those royalties. (Which, by the way, constitute a very large portion of those songwriters' living.)
Pretty much any venue that will have music playing, from Madison Square Garden to every radio station in the country to most of the stores in your local mall to the coffee shop down the street, is required by law to get an annual license from ASCAP, BMI, etc. which covers any and all music played there. The money from the licenses is distributed to songwriters as compensation for the use of their songs.
And yeah, ASCAP and BMI have to sometimes sue venues that don't pony up for the license. The license is a cost of doing business, just like having soap in the restroom or beer at the bar. And a venue like Pianos only gets sued after they ignore any number of warnings and such.
So regardless of what musicians' names pop up in the lawsuit as supporting materials, you probably oughtn't blame them if you don't agree with a lawsuit filed by BMI.
