Can you play music without a license? How one NC bar got sued for trying
Music. It ignites and connects. It makes, and it breaks — all at a cost.
Before plugging in the aux cord, linking a Bluetooth speaker or inviting a cover band on stage, business owners or event organizers must have a license. If they don’t, fines, spies and court orders could spawn, according to licensing agencies.
A recent lawsuit targeting Charlotte’s Tequila House alleges the Latin dance club cheated artists out of due royalties when it played songs after it had stopped paying for correct licensing. The complaint, filed by the non-profit American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, sheds light on the behind-the-scenes of every pub night, coffee run — and even some parties.
A public performance license — or three — is needed to play any music that’s not coming from a radio, television, cable or satellite source, according to copyright laws. In the era of DJS, Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple Music and iTunes, that loophole is largely closed.
Public performances are described as those that occur “in a public place where people gather (other than a small circle of a family or social acquaintances),” according to ASCAP.
For every dollar ASCAP makes off licenses — which range from $360 to more than $720 a year — artists receive about 90 cents, said Jackson Wagener, its Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs.
Three major performing rights organizations offer licenses that ensure businesses pay before they publicly play songs composed by their members. ASCAP is joined by Broadcast Music, Inc. and Society of European Stage Authors and Composers. Third parties offer licenses that cover all three.
This Charlotte dance club is being sued for playing songs without paying artists
Legal action is never the first move
ASCAP filed more than 100 lawsuits in the last year, Wagener said, but legal action is never their first move.
Before filing the lawsuit against Tequila House, ASCAP says it reached out several times after the uptown club stopped paying for its license. Eventually, it hired an “independent investigator” to record each song they heard boom through its speakers.
The lawsuit only lists three violations, but there were more, Wagner said.
Tequila House did not respond to The Charlotte Observer’s calls and emails requesting comment on the lawsuit and music licensing.
“We’re not trying to put anyone out of business,” he said, “we’re trying to bring them to the table.”
Broadcast Music, Inc., in an email to the Observer, said the same. Most cases are settled out of court, a spokesperson said, and the company — which has sold thousands of licenses in North Carolina — “never wants to see things escalate to a lawsuit.”
Fines for playing a song without a license
Playing a song without the correct PPL, according to a blog by OpenTable, can mean fines ranging from $750 to upwards of $30,000 per violation.
“Music license fees are one of the many costs of doing business,” according to the ASCAP website. “... Since it is the business owner who obtains the ultimate benefit from the performance, it is the business owner who obtains the license.”
One loophole remains intact, though: classical music composed before 1922 can be played without regulation.
