From the Seattle Times:
“A Seattle restaurant is among more than two dozen venues swept up in a music-licensing crackdown for allegedly failing to pay royalties to play copyrighted music in public.
Without a special license, owners of bars, clubs and restaurants could be sued for playing any one of 8 million recorded songs, even from their own CDs.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) says that equates to performing copyrighted music without permission, and the group is going after local businesses that haven’t paid them for the privilege.
On Monday, ASCAP said it had filed 26 separate infringement actions against nightclubs, bars and restaurants in 17 states. Among them is a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Seattle against the Ibiza Dinner Club downtown.
The group sued to spread the word that performing such music without permission is a federal offense, said Vincent Candilora, ASCAP senior vice president for licensing.”
The Bis Key Chronicles 
I’m picturing a club much like one I visited (often) in Korea while I was stationed there. Standing room only, people dancing on the bars, and a people passing CDs around to add to the playlist. I doubt anyone there paid a licensing fee.On a personal level, I wonder how many times we have to pay for the music that we purchase before it truly becomes our own? I bought some music online, but when I wanted to put it on a different device (from my iPod to an mp3 player that I use to work out with) I couldn’t. I would need to purchase it all over again under a different format. That frustrates.
Oh, and Happy Birthday to Suzy!! 😉
Hi! Stopping by to say hello – I’ve been working on some graduate courses and under a deadline so i haven’t been around for a while – I hope your summer is going well! take care – ttfn ~ tressie
This sounds ludicrous! RE: Elizabeth’s comment — very frustrating indeed! I have run into the same situation with music I purchased and my iPOD. How many times do we have to purchase the same song?