NEWS

Latitude 360 faces copyright lawsuit over music played in bar

Anne M. Li

A national songwriters association has filed a lawsuit against Latitude 360 over music royalties the group says the Indianapolis bar and restaurant has not paid.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers says Latitude 360 has refused to sign a licensing agreement for two years. ASCAP requires that establishments pay a license fee to play recordings of members’ music or host live performances during which members’ songs are performed. Payments average out to less than $2 a day, the association says.

“We’d like to work out a settlement, and we don’t like to take them to court,” said Vincent Candilora, executive vice president of licensing. “We don’t want to put anybody out of business. We want people to use our music. We want them to (use it) legally.”

Latitude 360 in Indianapolis referred The Indianapolis Star to its corporate office in Jacksonville, Florida. The Star was unable to reach anyone at the corporate office despite repeated telephone calls.

The lawsuit is among nine the association filed earlier this week against bars and restaurants throughout the country.

ASCAP, which represents more than 540,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers, alleges that Latitude 360 infringed on its members copyrights between March 21 and March 22 of this year. The association says a cover band performed “Because I Got High” published by Afroman Music and Universal Music Corp., “Push It” published by WB Music Corp., “We Found Love” published by EMI April Music Inc. and “Big Poppa” published by Big Poppa Music, EMI April Music and Bovina Music Inc. Jackson Wagener, ASCAP’s vice president of business and legal affairs, said the association assumes other ASCAP songs were performed or played on other nights, as well.

The lawsuit, Universal Music Corp. et al vs. Latitude 360 Nevada Inc. et al, was filed Aug. 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Candilora said that enforcing copyright law supports its members as well as the businesses that do pay for its license.

“The majority of establishments who use copyrighted music understand its importance to their environments,” he said. “It’s important to their customers. It’s an important business expense.”

ASCAP has filed 16 similar lawsuits so far this year. Candilora said the association has filed as many as 150 lawsuits in previous years.

Email Anne Li at ali2@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @annemiaoli.