Ed Stolz' Royce International Broadcasting Loses Cases Over Airing ASCAP Music Without Paying License Fees

Wins Suit

ED STOLZ and his ROYCE INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING CORP. has lost two cases in separate Federal courts and has been ordered to pay ASCAP over $1.5 million in license fees, attorney's fees, damages and costs. The defendant has filed an appeal of the verdict in CALIFORNIA to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

In the case filed in CALIFORNIA, WB MUSIC CORP., BUT FATHER I JUST WANT TO SING MUSIC, HUNTERBORO MUSIC, UNIVERSAL POLYGRAM INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING, INC., SONY ATV TUNES, LLC, OBVERSE CREATION MUSIC, NICE HAIR PUBLISHING, PARTY ROCK MUSIC, YEAH BABY MUSIC, ESKAYWHY PUBLISHING, UH OH ENTERTAINMENT, DIVINE MILL MUSIC, FINGAZ GOAL MUSIC, EMI APRIL MUSIC INC., HI MOM I DIT IT, CHEBRA MUSIC and UNIVERSAL MUSIC CORP. sued STOLZ and his companies ROYCE INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING CORPORATION, PLAYA DEL SOL BROADCASTERS, SILVER STATE BROADCASTING, LLC, and GOLDEN STATE BROADCASTING on APRIL 1, 2016 for airing music their music on his KRCK/MECCA-PALM SPRINGS, CA, KFRH/LAS VEGAS, and KREV/ALAMEDA-SAN FRANCISCO without paying ASCAP, which terminated the stations' ASCAP licenses on AUGUST 21st, 2012. The complaint noted that STOLZ had been sued before for similar infractions at KWOD/SACRAMENTO. In a judgment issued in MAY based on a jury verdict, Judge JESUS G. BERNAL ordered the defendants to pay a total of $330,000 in damages plus interest, plus issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants from airing ASCAP music without authorization.  On JULY 9th, BERNAL granted the plaintiffs' motion for $864,278.75 in attorneys fees and $43,333.34 in costs.

In NEW YORK court, STOLZ' companies' application for ASCAP licenses under the ASCAP consent decree was rejected by ASCAP rate court judge DENISE COTE, who ruled that the applications were an attempt to stave off the CALIFORNIA case results and that STOLZ' companies are not entitled to ASCAP licenses until they pay the back license fees and have until JULY 20, 2018 to pay.

“Songwriters deserve to be fairly compensated when their music is performed, and those who use music without permission should be rightly held accountable. The decision by Judges BERNAL and COTE affirm this basic principle,” said ASCAP CEO ELIZABETH MATTHEWS.  “While we prefer to work directly with licensees to ensure songwriters’ work is not infringed, we will take the necessary steps to protect our members’ rights. We are pleased both of these judges recognized songwriters’ value and have taken measures to protect their livelihoods.”

« see more Net News