Alternative station 106.9 Radio Z (KMZK) in Grand Junction, Colorado is in the crosshairs of a legal dispute similar to Ed Stolz, a former licensee of three West Coast FMs. Despite repeated warnings, KMZK co-owners Larry Grant and Kasisi Harris continued to air songs without settling music royalty dues to groups such as Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) earning a lawsuit from numerous music licensing groups.
Our sibling publication RBR+TVBR discovered the Get Smashed Radio Broadcasting Network is being jointly sued by BMI, Screen Gems-EMI Music, Tremonti Stapp Music, Reservoir One America, Sony/ATV Songs, R AND R Nomad Publishing Co., 4UASKY Entertainment, Stryker Joseph Music, and Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
The lawsuit filed in a Colorado Federal District Court against Grant and Harris alleges copyright infringement, accusing KMZK of airing recorded works from artists represented by the plaintiffs without compensating for the airplay.
According to the lawsuit, since August 2021, BMI has reportedly attempted to contact Get Smashed more than 10 times through phone calls, emails, and mailed letters to educate Grant and Harris about their obligations under the Copyright Act. These communications also included Cease and Desist Notices, which served as a formal directive to stop using BMI-licensed music at KMZK immediately. However, it appears that these efforts fell on deaf ears, prompting BMI and the co-plaintiffs to seek statutory damages and attorneys’ fees.
Back in the 80’s I worked for an owner/operator who routinely didn’t pay ASCAP and BMI. Every few years, they would come to town and sue him. They would settle for a lesser amount and the process would start over again. I came to call it the “gambling” style of management. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But, most often he would come out ‘money ahead’ in such deals. I couldn’t do that, but I’ve seen it done….
KMZK would be much better off if the owners simply paid the ASCAP and BMI license fees. Wondering if the station is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and can’t pay any of its bills including electricity? I also wonder how much of the license fees finds its way to the authors or performers, or does expensive overhead “eat up” the money and little is left for distribution.