Va. Establishment Guilty of 7 Claims of Willful Infringement: BMI

BMI contacted Holly’s Diner more than 30 times since September 2019 in an effort to “educate” the Charlottesville, Virginia, establishment about its Copyright Act obligations to buy a public performance license for musical compositions in the BMI “repertoire,” said a complaint Monday (docket 1:23-cv-00198) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia in Alexandria. The plaintiffs, including BMI and seven individual music publishers, allege seven claims of willful copyright infringement, based on the unauthorized public performance of musical works in the BMI catalog, it said. Holly’s Diner representatives didn’t respond Tuesday to requests for comment.