MUSIC SOCIETY POPS DOT SPOT

Restaurant owner says copyright infringement lawsuit a `big scam'

DORCHESTER — A local restaurant is being sued for playing music without paying for it.

The Harp & Bard on Dorchester Avenue is one of 10 bars and restaurants nationwide accused of copyright infringement by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

“It’s not just that they’ve ignored our requests, they’ve actually refused to obtain a license but they obviously continue to play our members’ music,” said Vice President Jackson Wagener of the business and legal affairs department at ASCAP. “Music is a really important way in which bars and grills attract customers and keep them coming back.”

Wagener said ASCAP has been in contact with restaurant owner Mike Galvin for the past five years through phone, email, letters and in-person visits in an attempt to bring the restaurant into compliance with the law, which requires permission from song owners to play their music. Litigation is their last resort.

Galvin told the Herald, “I have a jukebox and an entertainment license that I pay thousands and thousands of dollars to the city for — it covers TVs, the jukebox and entertainment. This other outfit is trying to squeeze me for some money. … I think it’s some big scam.”

Wagener said songwriters earn their livelihoods by licensing rights under the federal copyright law.

“This is an area where the law is black and white — there is no gray area,” Wagener said. “Paying for music is just like paying for a liquor license or paying vendors — it’s the cost of doing business.”

Bars and restaurants pay an average of $750 a year to play an unlimited amount of music. The cost varies based on the size of the business, the type of music they play and if they charge a cover, but the majority of the collected fees go to songwriters, composers and music publishers as royalties.

“It’s so important to songwriters to receive these royalty fees because it helps put food on the table and their kids through school,” Wagener said.

Wagener hopes to settle the case, which he said is what happens in the vast majority of their lawsuits.

If Galvin doesn’t opt for a settlement, ASCAP would seek an award of statutory damages. Penalties can range from $750 to $30,000 per song infringed, Wagener said. Courts often look at the amount of money the business saved over the years by not buying licenses and multiplying that by two or three.

“It is and should be fairer and cheaper to get licenses in the first instance than to try and game the system,” Wagener said.