News Aug 16, 2012 at 4:00 am

Music Licensing Company Admits Mistake After Pestering Nonprofit

Comments

1
This is what journalism's for. Nice job Sarah.
2
I will be heavily boycotting BMI. Dingo and Olive inspire children from very early ages to become performance artists, appreciate the performing arts, and just make them happy on a daily basis. That doesn't filter down to money and never should. I hope and pray Dingo and Olive play more often and to a much larger audience. We need them.
3
as a BMI composer myself, I believe that the general public and business owners need to educate themselves on copyright laws and on how music licensing works. BMI represents artists, and composers. If a cafe, club or restaurant needs or wants to play songs they need to pay the fee. It is simple. It is e artists who lose when businesses don't pay for music.
4
I'm music professional working in NYC. This is definitely not a David vs. Goliath scenario. BMI, ASCAP, SESAC and their ilk are good people doing good work: collecting royalties for working composers. Unlike many other careers, most people working as musicians/composers don't have any sort of retirement fund or 401K set up; the only long-term income they can hope for is royalty checks from their performing rights organization. Music publishing is an enormously complex issue: companies like Apple, Spotify, Mediafire, etc are completely killing the working composer, far worse than the major labels ever did. I'm not sure where music licensing by a non-profit establishment falls within the boundaries of copyright law, but it's irresponsible for this cafe to have not looked into this earlier; it's also unfortunate that BMI wasted their time and resources on a dead-end source of revenue for their composers. But there's really no one at fault here; I would guess the whole thing is due to a simple lack of proper paperwork.
5
@NYC engineer: I don't disagree with most of what you say. These are member-driven nonprofits trying to find a way to make sure their members get what they're owed.

But I will disagree with one thing: When a group like BMI lawyers-up just to go after the Cafe Au Play, it's very definitely a David vs. Goliath scenario. They need to find a better way.
6
Be willing to bet serious $$ that "pdx composer" and "NYC engineer" are BMI plants.
8
You can't tell me that in this town, awash in great musicians, the community as a whole can't jab a "fuck you" finger in BMI's eyes?

There have to be at least 20 bands, or duets or bark munching soloist who'd voluntarily step to the goddamned plate and put together 20-50 little kids ditties that could supplant the already copy-written canon put together and "owned" by BMI.

Mary had a freaking Lamb? Owned by BMI? Who's collecting royalties on the original poem written in 1830?

Nice work Sarah.
9
My guess is that BMI hired people to post the user comments by PDX composer and NYC Engineer. We are one sick society when it reaches this point.
10
I am a real live musician, and sorry, BMI and ASCAP's rules are pretty well known to club owners, etc., contrary to the author's "surprising" comment. I'm not for policing nonprofits that help people, but a lot of musicians depend on royalties so they can actually have a real live music career. I'm pretty sure "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is in public domain, but a lot of people don't realize just how much money it takes to actually record a new song and put it out there, and not all of us are trust funded like a lot of people in Portland. As for "boycotting" BMI, et al, good luck with that, virtually every musician worth listening is affiliated with one or the other, including all kinds of leftie Occupy types.
11
"Music Licensing Company Admits Mistake." damn right it was a mistake! Performing singalongs FOR CHILDREN is a GOOD DEED, and good deeds should be REWARDED!!!!!! Viva la DINGO DIZMAL & OLIVE ROOTBEER, they're clowns but the REAL clowns here work for BMI, trying to get money for some old songs whose composers died like 100 years ago, what are maggot-infested bones and hair going to do with "royalties?"
12
@PDXcomposer: Exactly what do you compose, besides C&D letters and litigation?

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