BMI Alleges 6 Claims of Willful Infringement Against N.J. Restaurant

BMI contacted managers of Maggie’s Bar and Grill in Jackson, New Jersey, more than 80 times since October 2019 about the necessity of “purchasing a license for the public performance of musical compositions” in the BMI “repertoire,” said BMI and five music publishers in a complaint Wednesday (docket 3:23-cv-03135) in U.S. District Court for New Jersey in Trenton. Included in the letters were cease and desist notices, warning the defendants that they must “immediately cease all use of BMI-licensed music” in their establishment, it said. The plaintiffs allege six claims of willful copyright infringement, based on the defendants’ “unauthorized public performance of musical compositions” from the BMI repertoire, it said. All of 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.