At the Classic Cookie, a Waldo, Missouri cafe, proprietor Leslie Stockard regularly played CDs she had bought under the (erroneous) impression that playing them was a form of fair use. Not so, apparently, as music agency BMI demanded licensing fees for unpaid "broadcast" of their intellectual property.
KMBC-TV Kansas City reports
A Waldo cafe owner learned the hard way that there's a price to be paid for playing music in a business. Leslie Stockard has run the Classic Cookie for 10 years. A few months ago, she received a threatening letter from BMI, an agency that represents music artists. "I thought it was a scam. So, I tossed the letters. And then, the letters started to come more frequently," Stockard told KMBC's Jim Flink.
letters warned Stockard that she could be fined for playing CDs in her café. Stockard said she ignored the letters until one day someone came in to deliver the threat in person. "So we turned (the CDs) off for about a week. When I figured he was gone, we turned them back on. I assumed that if I purchased the CDs, if my business purchased the CDs, that I could play them in my business. But apparently that's not the case," Stockard said. "I'd like to make sure other small businesses know to turn off your CDs, unless you want to pay a small licensing fee." Stockard paid $300 in BMI licensing fees, which is the minimum for one year's use. Stockard said that when her year is up, she'll take her CD player out and revert to playing the radio.
thanks to jgodsey
KMBC-TV Kansas City reports
A Waldo cafe owner learned the hard way that there's a price to be paid for playing music in a business. Leslie Stockard has run the Classic Cookie for 10 years. A few months ago, she received a threatening letter from BMI, an agency that represents music artists. "I thought it was a scam. So, I tossed the letters. And then, the letters started to come more frequently," Stockard told KMBC's Jim Flink.
letters warned Stockard that she could be fined for playing CDs in her café. Stockard said she ignored the letters until one day someone came in to deliver the threat in person. "So we turned (the CDs) off for about a week. When I figured he was gone, we turned them back on. I assumed that if I purchased the CDs, if my business purchased the CDs, that I could play them in my business. But apparently that's not the case," Stockard said. "I'd like to make sure other small businesses know to turn off your CDs, unless you want to pay a small licensing fee." Stockard paid $300 in BMI licensing fees, which is the minimum for one year's use. Stockard said that when her year is up, she'll take her CD player out and revert to playing the radio.
thanks to jgodsey
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