NEW ORLEANS – A New York firm that licenses music for broadcasting or public performance is suing Artie’s Sports Bar and its owner in a dispute surrounding copyright infringement.
Broadcast Music Inc. and 15 other music publishers filed a lawsuit Jan. 18 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Artie’s LLC, doing business as Artie’s Sports Bar, and Arthur H. Bradberry, individually, alleging copyright infringement.
According to the complaint, BMI has sent cease and desist letters to the defendant and phoned them numerous times since November 2012 to educate them about the need to buy licenses for the songs they play at the bar. The songs and their composers include the following: “Bring it on Home To Me” by Sam Cooke; “Goodbye Time” by Roger Murrah and James Dean Hicks; “Honky Tonk Women” by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards; “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” by Dan Baird; “Old Time Rock and Roll” by George Jackson and Thomas E. Jones III; “Bump ‘N’ Grind” by Robert Kelly; “Home” by Christopher A. Daughtry; and “Let Me Down Easy” by Mark Nesler, Marty Dodson and Jennifer Hanson.
The plaintiffs seek a restraining order prohibiting performance of the unlicensed music, recovery of statutory damages, attorneys’ fees and other damages determined by the court. They are represented by attorney Mark A. Balkin and Joseph C. Chautin III of Hardy, Carey, Chautin & Balkin LLP of Mandeville.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Case number 2:16-cv-00401