Copyright Law Updates | New Judicial Opinions
May 24, 2007
Impulsive Music, Inc. v. Bryclear Enterprises, LLC
06cv1213 (JBA), 2007 WL 1051499, D. Conn., 4/5/2007
Holding:
Statutory damages of $2,500 per violation is reasonable award against bar owner who violated copyright by allowing unlicensed performance of copyrighted songs at his bar.
Detailed Summary:
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) notified defendants, owners of a bar and restaurant, that they had been performing copyrighted music without permission. Defendants, who had never signed a license or paid any fees to ASCAP, never responded to numerous attempts to contact them, nor did they enter appearances after being served with the complaint. The court granted the motion for default judgment and awarded statutory damages of $2,500 per violation. This award reflected the Act’s purpose of discouraging infringement and was reasonable since defendants willfully ignored ASCAP’s licensing letters. The court did not grant the requested $4,000 per violation because there was no evidence of the frequency of the infringement and the protested works were only four among 54 pieces performed that night.
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