BMI Sues to Stop Fla. Restaurant From Committing Further Acts of Infringement

BMI and 10 music publishers allege six claims of willful copyright infringement against The Seineyard at Wildwood, a seafood restaurant in Crawfordville, Florida, and owners Starr and Samuel Dunlap, based on their unauthorized public performance of musical compositions from the BMI repertoire, said their complaint Tuesday (docket 4:24-cv-00193) in U.S. District Court for Northern Florida in Tallahassee. BMI has reached out to the defendants more than 40 times since April 2019 to educate them about the necessity of purchasing a license for the public performance of musical compositions, said the complaint. Included in the correspondence were cease and desist letters giving the defendants formal notice that they must immediately cease all use of BMI-licensed music in the establishment, it said. The specific acts of copyright infringement alleged in the complaint, plus the defendants’ “entire course of conduct,” are causing the plaintiffs “great and incalculable damage,” it said. Unless the court restrains the defendants from committing further acts of copyright infringement, the plaintiffs “will suffer irreparable injury for which they have no adequate remedy at law,” it said.