BMI Lawsuit Alleges 5 Claims of Willful Infringement vs. La. Establishment

BMI contacted officers of an establishment in Metairie, Louisiana, called the Max Lounge, at least 30 times since December 2021 to educate them about their obligations under the Copyright Act to buy a license for the public performance of musical compositions in the BMI repertoire, but to no avail, alleged BMI and five music publishers in a complaint Wednesday (docket 2:23-cv-01561) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Louisiana in New Orleans. Included in the correspondence were cease and desist letters putting the defendants on “formal notice” they must immediately cease all use of BMI-licensed music in the establishment, said the complaint. The plaintiffs allege five claims of willful copyright infringement, based on the defendants’ unauthorized public performance of musical compositions from the BMI repertoire, it said. All the claims for copyright infringement joined in the complaint are “governed by the same legal rules and involve similar facts,” it said. “Joinder of these claims will promote the convenient administration of justice and will avoid a multiplicity of separate, similar actions” against the defendants, it said.