Ooooh, big yikes on this one – a Melbourne bar has been ordered to pay almost $200,000 in damages after it was discovered that they were playing songs in the venue without a license.
Melbourne’s Hairy Little Sista was found guilty last month of infringing copyright, and Judge Julia Baird said that the owner, Kristine Becker, has acted with “disregard” for the rights of musicians.
According to ABC, the PPCA, which is the agency that collects royalties on behalf of those in the music industry, tried to contact Becker more than 40 times about the matter, via both telephone and email. Becker was ordered to pay $185,000 in damages plus costs.
It is a requirement of any business to go through proper licensing protocol when it comes to playing music in their establishment, but it is notoriously hard to police.
In case you were wondering, the full list of the nine offending, wide-ranging songs are as follows:
- The Ballad of John & Yoko — The Beatles
- Hooked On A Feeling — Blue Swede
- Saturday Night — Bay City Rollers
- T.S.O.P. — Kevin Rowland & Dexys Midnight Runners
- Be My Baby — Bay City Rollers
- Blow — Blossoms
- Stockholm — Atlas Genius
- Imaginadote ft. Daddy Yankee — Reykon
- Andy — Last Dinosaurs
