Warner Bros. sued a small bar for playing an 80 year old song

Recording studios, as well as Hollywood film studios, have long been famous for their passion for the courts and demands for damages to individuals and companies for the slightest copyright infringement. At the same time, they sue anyone, from housewives who uploaded a couple of songs to a file sharing service, to students who uploaded a movie on The Pirate Bay. Reimbursement amounts are usually breathtaking, six and seven figures.

The other day, not lucky a small bar from the state of New York, the company Warner Bros. It requires from him 60 thousand US dollars for the double reproduction of a song that was written back in 1934. It's about the tune "I Only Have Eyes for You" from the movie "Dames."

Many bars, pubs and restaurants use famous compositions to entertain their guests, some hire groups for “live music”, others play the recordings. However, agencies representing the interests of the recording industry are demanding that they pay deductions from both the first and second.
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In this case, the punishment for failure to comply with the provisions of the legislation protecting the right holders can be very severe. Ask how the observation is made? Recording studios hire agents who travel around the country and visit local establishments. Not with the purpose of drinking and eating, no, but with the goal of listening to the music that plays in these places. If something goes wrong, you can wait for a subpoena and a fine of many thousands.

Usually, fines are charged for works that are known to everyone, but in this particular case, the Giacomo Jacks, a small bar-restaurant, was sued for over 80 years due to the double playback of the record. It remains only to be surprised by the musical knowledge of agents - after all, this melody is known to very few people.

However, now with the owners of Giacomo Jacks require 60 thousand dollars in damages. Since it is not possible to calculate the exact losses from the "illegal" music playing in this bar, it was decided to request 30 thousand US dollars for each fact of playing the ill-fated song. And yes, at Warner Bros. The rights to this or other work are retained for 95 years.

Here is the text of the lawsuit filed by Warner Bros.

Via torrentfreak