baristaforum
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- Jun 19, 2007
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BMI, who represents copyright interests of many music artists, has contacted me and aggressively pursued payment for a license they say I''m required to have as a coffee house as well as renew each year. The price for this, for me, would be 2000 dollars a year, but could max out at 10,000 dollars per year depending on the size of your coffee house.
Is anyone else paying this? Does anyone other than me see this as a pathetic attempt by big business to extort money from the pockets of ''mom and pop'' sized companies who otherwise might not know how to fight the issue?
I have about 12 open mic nights per year, and I have a collection of 10 jazz / blues cd''s I play throughout the day, and they are saying I''m in violation of copyright law by allowing these kids to come in and strum a couple songs on their guitars by their favorite artists. They also say It''s my responsibility to play ''copyright police'' and ensure the content of the open mic participants is not represented by BMI. Of course, if I pay their 2000 dollar annual license fee, I''d be covered.. Fine, so what happens when RIAA and ASCAP come banging at my door for their fees?
The pockets of coffee houses and small restaurant owners are about to be legally pickpocketed by these big music corporations by distorting the copyright laws for their own purposes. Does anyone else agree that this is ridiculous?
Blue
Is anyone else paying this? Does anyone other than me see this as a pathetic attempt by big business to extort money from the pockets of ''mom and pop'' sized companies who otherwise might not know how to fight the issue?
I have about 12 open mic nights per year, and I have a collection of 10 jazz / blues cd''s I play throughout the day, and they are saying I''m in violation of copyright law by allowing these kids to come in and strum a couple songs on their guitars by their favorite artists. They also say It''s my responsibility to play ''copyright police'' and ensure the content of the open mic participants is not represented by BMI. Of course, if I pay their 2000 dollar annual license fee, I''d be covered.. Fine, so what happens when RIAA and ASCAP come banging at my door for their fees?
The pockets of coffee houses and small restaurant owners are about to be legally pickpocketed by these big music corporations by distorting the copyright laws for their own purposes. Does anyone else agree that this is ridiculous?
Blue