Submission + - BMI madness
Dishwasha writes: I have several customers that have recently received a notice from the Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) that they were in violation of the music rights which BMI owns. They were sited that they had "Music on Hold; TVs in Public Waiting Rooms, in Therapy Sessions, In Fitness Centers, in Operating Rooms, and in Patient Rooms." Apparently none of these applied except for having a TV in waiting rooms and patient rooms. BMI is demanding my customers to sign an agreement for a "Health Care Multiple Use License". More recently one of my customers is a hospital in a town consisting of a population of less than 800 and they have been directly invoiced by the BMI for the use of TVs in public waiting areas.
Is there any legal advice, articles, or documentation the community can offer me that I can share with my customers? Does BMI hold any legal right to claim fees on publicly broadcasted material that is receiving royalties through advertisement that is not being charged by the accused to their customers nor directly generating any revenue or profit, but is simply accessed via a common device used to gain access to public services (i.e. Broadcasted Television) and not being duplicated in any illegal fashion?
Is there any legal advice, articles, or documentation the community can offer me that I can share with my customers? Does BMI hold any legal right to claim fees on publicly broadcasted material that is receiving royalties through advertisement that is not being charged by the accused to their customers nor directly generating any revenue or profit, but is simply accessed via a common device used to gain access to public services (i.e. Broadcasted Television) and not being duplicated in any illegal fashion?
