BMI Seeks $18,000 Default Judgment vs. Ohio Tavern for Copyright Infringement
BMI and eight music publishers seek an entry of default judgment against a Louisville, Ohio, tavern and its owner that permanently bars them from infringing BMI-licensed copyrighted musical compositions and orders them to pay nearly $18,000 in statutory damages with interest, plus $5,200 in attorneys’ fees and court costs, said their motion Friday (docket 5:23-cv-01889) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Ohio in Akron. BMI “repeatedly informed” Whiskey Stop Bar & Grill in Louisville, Ohio, and owner Scott Kelly between October 2021 and August 2023 “of the need to obtain permission for public performances of copyrighted music,” said BMI’s memorandum in support of the default judgment. BMI offered to enter into a blanket license agreement with them, but they didn’t do so, it said. BMI and the music publishers alleged six claims of willful copyright infringement against the defendants (see 2309290002).