A songwriters’ group sues bar for musical copyright infringement

An organization that represents songwriters and music publishers is suing a Canton bar and restaurant for allegedly infringing on the musical copyrights of its members.

The complaint against Cowboy Row Saloon & Chophouse is one of 13 lawsuits filed last week by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. ASCAP said the suit comes after a multiyear effort to contact the Baltimore bar about renewing a license to play its members’ music.

“Each of the establishments sued today has decided to use music without compensating songwriters,” the association’s executive vice president and head of licensing Stephanie Ruyle said in a statement announcing the complaints. “By filing these actions, ASCAP is standing up for songwriters whose creative work brings great value to all businesses that publicly perform their music.”

U.S. copyright law requires bars, restaurants, nightclubs and other businesses to pay for a license in order to legally play copyrighted music, including live performances and recordings, in a public place. Performance rights organizations like ASCAP and its main competitor, Broadcast Music Inc., sell annual licenses and send royalties back to their members. ASCAP represents more than 920,000 independent songwriters, composers and music publishers, and its repertory includes more than 17 million musical works.

The Cowboy Row lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for Maryland, alleges that the Canton bar played four songs owned by ASCAP members on March 1 and March 2 despite not having held a license since 2016. The songs were “Levitating” by Dua Lipa, “Nice & Slow” by Usher, “Diary” by Alicia Keys and “This is the Life” by Amy Macdonald.

Representatives of Cowboy Row could not be reached for comment.

Jackson Wagener, ASCAP’s senior vice president of business and legal affairs, said the organization uses legal complaints as a “last resort” after exhausting other attempts to encourage businesses to comply with copyright laws. He said ASCAP hired a private investigator to visit the bar in March and write down the names of songs being played.

“We have been dealing or speaking with the owners of Cowboy Row for several years,” Wagener said. The lawsuit says the bar, which was formerly known as Plug Ugly’s Publick House, held a license in 2012 but failed to pay licensing fees, prompting the association to cancel the license in 2016.

“Over the next several years, we made repeated attempts to offer to resolve their past-due balance and get them re-licensed again,” Wagener said. “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”

ASCAP is seeking $750 to $30,000 in damages for copyright infringement of each of the songs listed in the complaint.

This isn’t the first time a Baltimore bar has allegedly run afoul of musical copyright laws. In 2019, ASCAP sued Highlandtown sports bar Carlos O’Charlies for playing songs without proper licensing. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed figure, Wagener said.

He hopes the organization can reach a similar outcome with Cowboy Row.

“Our goal is not to put anybody out of business, it’s to ensure fair and reasonable compensation for our members,” Wagener said.