Hey, he’s dead already.
OregonLive.com : Everything Oregon
A performance of the Jimi Hendrix classic, “The Wind Cries Mary,” may cost Michael Dorr his restaurant.
Dorr, the 37-year-old owner of Imbibe on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, has been slapped with a federal lawsuit by companies that own the rights to a trio of popular classics that were performed at Dorr’s restaurant in 2005. The songs at the center of the suit? Other than the Hendrix song, the music companies say Stevie Wonder’s “That Girl,” and a 1971 tune, “Slippin’ into Darkness.”
Dorr says a rep from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers paid an unannounced visit to his restaurant one night and heard covers of the songs performed by local band “Black Notes.” Because his place features local musicians and covers are rare, he didn’t think he had to pay the musicians and publishers group an estimated $2,000 to cover performances of copyrighted tunes. But the owners of the songs, including Wonder and Hendrix’s estate, say he does.Now they’re suing Dorr for copyright infringement – and they’re seeking payment of between $750 and $30,000 for each song, along with attorney fees.
“It’s basically going to bankrupt me and put me out of business,” Dorr said this morning. “I can’t afford the lawyer and the fees. It’s going to close me down.”
Since when does a publishing company get paid $30,000 so a band can perform a song? Everytime I go into any piano bar I ask the guy to play “Stairway to Heaven.” So now he owes money? Nobody can ever play anything? What creeps.
found by Raff
Everyone should e-mail these creeps so they understand how stupid they are because I don’t think they know. This thinking actually makes sense to them.
Since when does a restaurant pick the set list of what any given band will play?
This one cheesed off a lot of people in Portland. Do the bands who play the cover songs bear any responsibility in this? I’m suprised theres no fee the band has to pay to be able to perform these songs in public.
Now club owners are going to have to look out for renegade bands playing cover songs.
Cus I’m the Tax Man… YEAhhhh!
Thank god every piece of classical music written before Mickey Mouse is free. Just play that – most of it is a million times better than geezer pop anyway.
I guarantee that no artist gets a penny from suing this guy, even IF he lost and paid up all those tens of thousands of dollars.
So what exactly is he paying the thugs for? WHO is he paying? IF it isn’t the artists, where the hell is the money going? This is a con.
I don’t rip CD’s for revenge. I stopped buying music the day they put a gun to Napster’s head, and will never listen to music again on any system of mine. It’s not worth the risk. I’ll listen on other people’s dime, but not one penny leaves my pocket for RIAA.
…and people roll their eyes when I suggest that Micky Mouse is a product of the Devil…
14. “Instead, the headline on the ASCAP’s site “YUSUF ISLAM NAMED SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR AT ASCAP AWARDS IN LONDON” Nothing more American than that.”
Trivia: Yusuf Islam = Cat Stevens
RBG
This is an old argument. Radio, TV, etc. etc. all pay ASCAP licence fees. They distribute those fees to the people who wrote the songs. What’s wrong with that? The bar owner is lying.
This has nothing to do with the RIAA, p2p, or any of these new arguments.
This is an old old fight.
This article shouldn’t even have made this blog. Nobody has done the background research.
A low point for dvorak.org.
So, what about karaoke? Where people BUTCHER the songs! Shouldn’t the karaoke sellers pay the fees as they’re providing the words/music? Seems easier to go after them than the billions of small bars that try and attract two more people on a tuesday night!
I find it all stupid. Why not just go after the government agencies that grant liquor licenses…and have everyone pay an ASCAP fee….because I’ve never been in a bar that didn’t have a radio, a tv, a dj or a band. Bars are boring….who wants to sit around and watch a lot of other people drink?
Seems that after a few dozen years (how long has Hendrix been dead?) it should all become “fair use”. At this rate…we’ll never have another Xmas carol, another song to sing at ball games, another song to sing our children to sleep…unless we pay a fee. What a sad world we’re leaving for future generations.
21 Interesting how they aren’t suing the band for preforming the songs.
Composers [the C in ASCAP] don’t want to anger the people who perform their music. 🙂
Composers just want a share of the receipts from the people trying to make money off of their compositions.
You can crank your stereo up loud enough to let everyone at your block party hear it – as long as you are not charging admission to the party.
A band can setup in the park and play anything they want, unless they charge admission.
From the article:
…a rep from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers paid an unannounced visit to his restaurant one night…
Heh. A “rep” just happened to be there? And covers are “rare”.
Do reps routinely make the rounds of live-music venues? [probably]
The bar’s owner didn’t know that? [yeah, right!]
If nothing else, it serves as a warning to other bars who are not paying the license fee. 🙂
As Carmine said to Dean Wormer “If you use the word extortion again, I’ll have your legs broken!”
If your a bar owner and a musician as well as belonging to ASCAP or BMI as a writer do you still have to pay ASCAP or BMI royalties to play your own song in your own bar and if you didn’t would you get sued for playing your own song in your own bar????