A Copyright Lawsuit regarding the Playing of music can be summarized by 3 quotes:
“In early December, publishing rights organization Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) sued Mallonn’s Grill & Bar in Canton, Ohio, for allegedly playing music by Kid Rock, Dave Grohl, and other licensed artists without paying royalties.”
“In November, BMI filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against a Lewiston, Idaho, sports bar that was allegedly playing music by Taylor Swift and other BMI-affiliated artists.”
“The celebrities involved drew attention to both cases even though BMI—not the artists themselves—initiated the lawsuits.”
I didnt even know an establishment needed permission to simply play other artist’s music. This is just ridiculous: music is meant to be heard. Goldstein wouldnt be very pleased with this news. In fact, Goldstein states, “Sometimes im tempted to suggest that any song that has sold more than a million copies ought to go directly into the public domain, as if the fans have ransomed it from the copyright holders.” Now im no music professional but im pretty sure artists like Kid Rock and Taylor Swift have sold over a million copies and are almost immorally wealthy. Goldstein would certainly disagree with both of these cases especially because the lawsuits were initiated by BMI and not the artists themselves.