

A Day in the Life of Legalized Extortion: How the BMI Shakedown Works - grellas
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100806/15462810537.shtml

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michael_dorfman
In what possible sense is this extortion?

If restaurant owners want to play music to their customers, in an attempt to
extract additional revenue, they are required to pay a fee to the artists who
composed the music. Similarly, if they want to serve liquor, they need to get
a liquor license. If they want to sell orange juice, they need to (somewhere)
buy the orange juice.

I'm having trouble finding the source of the outrage.

~~~
greyfade
There are a few things:

1\. Suppose the restaurant owner is not playing music that BMI/ASCAP are
authorized to collect royalties on. What gives them the right to demand it?
The answer is a law which effectively assumes the restauranteur is a liar and
_is_ playing music illegally.

2\. BMI/ASCAP-collected royalties _rarely_ are paid to the artists. Most of
those royalties disappear in "operating expenses" and executive bonuses. Few
artists ever see a dime.

3\. BMI/ASCAP _know_ that their activities are harming businesses and _don't
care_. Their royalty schedules often far exceed what is reasonable and, in
many cases, force small businesses to fold entirely. I know several people in
this position.

4\. Many artists are aware of this and strongly disapprove of it, but are
powerless to stop it.

Nothing BMI/ASCAP does is justifiable.

~~~
pasbesoin
I recall a news story a year or two ago about a cafe owner forced to end live
entertainment. Even after he explained that only hosted live bands playing
original works, he was unable to get out from under unaffordable legal expense
to defend his position.

