RMLC Loses Philadelphia Court Case With GMR

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The Radio Licensing Music Committee was hoping to battle it out with Irving Azoff’s Public Rights Organization in a Philadelphia court. The anti-trust lawsuit came about when the RMLC claimed Global Music Rights exerted its monopoly power by demanding outrageous fees that were grossly disproportional to the underlying share of the works in its repertory. GMR does not have to follow the same consent decree as ASCAP and BMI so it can go to any radio station and say “pay this to play these artists, or face hefty fines every time you play our artists.” So what’s the fuss about Philadelphia?

Back in 2012, there was a lawsuit filed against SESAC for attempting to monopolize the market. Back then SESAC was not subject to the same government consent decree as BMI and ASCAP. RMLC filed suit, on the east coast, against the smaller PRO, which it was on the road to winning, before SESAC agreed to a 20-year deal with the radio industry that prevents the PRO from imposing supracompetetive rates on stations. RMLC says GMR is copying SESAC’s unlawful tactics.

GMR operates out of California and argued in the Philadelphia court that there’s no logical reason the case should be heard in Pennsylvania. The RMLC countered that GMR is a national organization and Philadelphia works just fine for this lawsuit. This week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynn Sitarski sided with GMR. “I find that the assertions of Plaintiff RMLC, even if viewed as true, do not establish personal jurisdiction over GMR in the forum state, Pennsylvania or venue in this judicial district.”

In a statement Thursday night, Azoff said “The Magistrate’s recommendation is a vindication of what we have said all along: the RMLC had no business filing a lawsuit in Pennsylvania, a state that has nothing to do with this dispute. We look forward to Judge Jones’ review of the order and continuing our efforts to protect the rights of songwriters to be paid fairly by the $18 billion commercial radio industry.”

The RMLC plans to appeal and sent out their own statement last night: “Although RMLC is disappointed in the preliminary ruling, that ruling is not a final decision as to whether RMLC can prosecute its case in Pennsylvania, and it does not address the merits of RMLC’s antitrust claims in any way. The preliminary ruling simply addresses the geographic location of the court where RMLC’s claims should be heard. RMLC maintains that its case is properly before a Pennsylvania court and intends to appeal the preliminary jurisdictional ruling to the presiding District Judge who will make a final decision. Regardless which court ultimately presides over RMLC’s claims, RMLC is committed to its mission to protect the interests of all its member stations against GMR’s anticompetitive abuse.”

As the two sides fight it out in court, radio stations are using interim licenses with GMR to play their artists, which includes 28,000 works from over 70 songwriters, including works written or performed by Adele, Aerosmith, Jay Z, Madonna, Taylor Swift and many others. The RMLC says radio stations cannot reasonably avoid playing these artists.

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