BMI Alleges 4 Claims of Willful Copyright Infringement vs. Baltimore Brew Pub

A Baltimore brew pub and three owners are liable for at least four claims of willful copyright infringement, based on their unauthorized public performance of musical compositions from the BMI repertoire, alleged BMI and six music publishers in their complaint Tuesday (docket 1:24-cv-01767) in U.S. District Court for Maryland. All the claims for copyright infringement joined in the lawsuit “are governed by the same legal rules and involve similar facts,” said the complaint against the Peabody Heights Brewery and its owners, Richard O’Keefe, Eddie O’Keefe and James Rouse. BMI has reached out to the defendants more than 80 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 the Peabody Heights Brewery and its owners 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.