UPDATE: Oct. 4, 2024: ASCAP’s representative said the lawsuit was settled with West Second Street Bar.
Downtown’s West 2nd Street Bar was sued on June 25, by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). The Reno bar was among about a dozen bars around the country that were also sued in an effort to enforce licensing and copyright laws on behalf of ASCAP members.
“Businesses use music because it helps to create an ambiance that brings customers back and makes them stay longer,” said ASCAP Executive Vice President Stephanie Ruyle. “Hundreds of thousands of well-run businesses across the nation recognize this and understand that compensating the songwriters who created it is the lawful and right thing to do.
“However, each of the establishments sued today has decided to use music without paying its creators. By filing these actions, ASCAP is standing up for songwriters whose music is essential to those businesses and their customers.”
The music licensing organization operates not-for-profit and represents nearly a million songwriters, composers and music publishers. Almost 90% of ASCAP’s license fees go to members as royalties.
ASCAP attorney Jackson Wagener said the bar refused to pay licensing fees to ASCAP after having signed an agreement to do so in the past.
“During Covid, we didn’t pursue lawsuits like this,” he told This Is Reno. “Post Covid, we have reached out to these folks repeatedly … to remind them the copyright law is clear here. Not only do you have an obligation to pay fair compensation to creators when you use their music, but it’s also incredibly important. It’s how [ASCAP creators] put food on the table and how they put their kids through school. The lawsuit is really to stress … the importance of doing both the legal and right thing here.”
The lawsuit alleges Thomas Cladianos and Marko “Mark” Haller operate the bar and started licensing music with ASCAP in 2008, but they “failed to pay license fees as required by the license agreement.” According to the lawsuit, they were notified of defaulting on their agreement in 2015, but the bar kept playing music without paying fees.
“Despite ASCAP contacting Defendants numerous times, Defendants have refused all of ASCAP’s offers to relicense the Bar. As a result of the foregoing, the Bar has been unlicensed by ASCAP since September 30, 2015,” the suit alleges. “Defendants have continued to present public performances of the copyrighted musical compositions of ASCAP members at the Bar, including the copyrighted works involved in this action, without permission, during the hours that the establishment is open to the public for business and presenting musical entertainment.”
Wagener said damages can be up to $30,000 per work infringed under the Copyright Act, and ASCAP documented three instances of songs being played at the bar in February 2024.
“We don’t need to see more than just a handful of works to really get to get that ball rolling,” Wagener said, adding that the bar could have saved money by paying licensing fees as other bars do. Bars and restaurants pay about $700 per year for ASCAP licensing.
“Under the copyright law, there’s a clear rationale, which is, actually, that for periods when you are unlicensed, you … pay an amount that’s in excess of the license fees that you would have paid,” he added. “The rationale is that, and it makes perfect sense, it can’t be less expensive to ignore your obligations under the law – and ignore your obligations to songwriters – than to simply follow through and pay them what you should have paid.”
Wagener said many ASCAP members are not famous, touring musicians but rather songwriters who do not perform or sell merchandise and depend on ASCAP royalties.
Attempts to reach the bar by phone and social media were unsuccessful. By the time this article was published, the bar had not responded to the lawsuit.
