N.J. Beach Bar Guilty of 4 Claims of Infringement, Allege BMI, 6 Music Publishers

Salty’s Beach Bar in Lake Como, New Jersey, is liable for four claims of willful copyright infringement, based on its unauthorized public performance of musical compositions from the BMI repertoire, alleged BMI and six music publishers in a complaint Thursday (docket 3:24-cv-06558) in U.S. District Court for New Jersey. All the claims for copyright infringement joined in the complaint “are governed by the same legal rules and involve similar facts,” it said. BMI has reached out to Salty’s and its owner, Michelle Fontanez, more than 110 times since August 2022 in an effort to educate them about their obligations under the Copyright Act and “the necessity of purchasing a license for the public performance of musical compositions” in the BMI repertoire, said the complaint. Included in the correspondence were cease and desist letters, providing Salty’s and Fontanez with 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, have caused and are causing the plaintiffs “great and incalculable damage,” it said. By continuing to provide unauthorized public performances of works in the BMI repertoire at the establishment, the defendants “threaten to continue committing copyright infringement,” 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.