Settlement Talks ‘Ongoing’ Between BMI and N.J. Restaurant, Says Magistrate Judge

In light of settlement discussions that appear to be “ongoing” between BMI and Maggie’s Bar & Grill in Jackson, New Jersey, U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne Bongiovanni for New Jersey in Trenton ordered the parties to submit an additional status update regarding those settlement talks by March 6, said his text order Thursday (docket 3:23-cv-03135). BMI contacted the restaurant’s managers 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 the June 7 complaint from BMI and five music publishers (see 2306080044). They allege six claims of willful copyright infringement against the establishment, based on its “unauthorized public performance of musical compositions.”