You Gotta Pay to Play—not!

I read with gratitude Joe Pastoor’s recent article “All Shook Down: Is ASCAP kneecapping your corner coffee shop?”[November]. As one of those interviewed for the article, I offer these observations. BMI spokesman Jerry Bailey is not correct when he says that “if a business owner is not playing BMI music, he/she has nothing to worry about.” For fifteen years I have scrupulously avoided singing “cover tunes” (songs written and copyrighted by others) solely because of copyright considerations. And yet I lost a steady job as the only musician at Schemmy’s Restaurant in Rhinebeck, New York, after the owners received a series of threatening letters from BMI. Despite several communications on my part, BMI refused to concede my right to play my own songs copyrighted in my own name, and traditional folk songs in the public domain, anywhere I want to, whether or not the venue has a performance license from BMI. “We’re not going to give you that,” said Craig Stamm, director of general licensing for BMI. Ultimately, the U.S. Copyright Office ruled in my favor on both counts. But, as Pastoor notes, by then I had lost the gig. Schemmy’s Restaurant decided not to have live music or even play CDs, rather than face a protracted battle with an unrepentant BMI. The net result is indeed that there are fewer places for artists to get started. Laurie Hughes of ASCAP denies this by saying,“If a club is playing all original music, they don’t need a license. Copyright holders don’t need permission to play their own works.” This is true, of course—but I had to wage a seven-month battle with BMI to secure this right for all songwriters across the country. BMI had attempted to extort royalties from my employers for my performance of my songs, and of my arrangements of the traditional songs of my ancestors. I believe BMI essentially thought they could obtain royalties for my music, even though I have never joined BMI. They cannot. This is America. We have the right to remain independent.
Richard Hayes Phillips, Canton, NY