CULLMAN, Ala. – BMI, the largest music rights organization in the U.S., filed a federal lawsuit June 25, 2022, against the Cullman franchise of Moe’s Original Bar B Que, alleging the business allowed the “unauthorized public performance of musical compositions from the BMI repertoire” in October 2019, according to court documents. This is the second such suit BMI has filed against Moe’s in Cullman. The first was filed and dropped by BMI in March 2020 due to a court backlog at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the current suit, the alleged violations involved recorded performances and live performances.
The company claims, in its 12-page lawsuit, that it has attempted to contact the franchise owners more than 70 times since August of 2018. Alleging that its attempts to reach the owners by mail, phone and email were unsuccessful, BMI opted to sue the establishment for the second time.
BMI maintains in the suit that, “The specific acts of copyright infringement alleged in the complaint, as well as Defendants’ entire course of conduct, have caused and are causing plaintiffs great and incalculable damage.”
The company has asked the court to order the local franchise to cease playing music from the BMI catalog and to pay “statutory damages” to BMI.
A BMI representative, in an emailed statement to CBS 42, said, “We want music to benefit everyone, which is why we spend so much time educating businesses about the value that music brings to their establishment, the requirements of copyright law, and the importance of maintaining a music license.
“Most establishments recognize this and choose to feature music because they understand the value it adds to their business and the ambiance it creates for their customers.”
The songs involved in the suit include:
- “Gunpowder and Lead” by Miranda Lambert
- “Sugar, We’re Going Down” by Patrick Stumph and others
- “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” by Toby Keith
- “Broken Wing” by James House and others
- “Never Been to Spain” by Hoyt Axton
- “Inside Out” by Jonathan Lee Siebels and others
- “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John and Barnard Taupin
- “American Pie” by Don McLean
- “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers
Owning the rights to more than 17 million songs representing more than a million songwriters, BMI grossed $1.28 billion in revenue in 2019 and paid $1.2 billion in royalties.
Located at 318 First Ave. SE in Cullman, the local Moe’s franchise was opened in 2013 by Joseph Fralic, Justin Gilley and Tyler Schuman.
All attempts to establish communication with representatives from the Cullman Moe’s franchise and the Moe’s home office in Vail, Colorado by The Tribune have been unsuccessful.
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