Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 10, 1995 TAG: 9504100014
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The owners of Roanoke's Christian television station are being sued for copyright infringement for playing songs on the air without paying royalties, according to a federal lawsuit.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers filed suit in the name of 10 owners of copyrighted songs that the group claims WEFC-TV played over a three-day period last year.
The songs include "O Magnify the Lord," "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" and "The Family of God."
WEFC stopped paying license fees to ASCAP in late 1993, which means the station no longer could play music licensed through that organization, the suit says.
ASCAP is a 65,000-member organization that licenses music and distributes royalties among the songwriters and copyright owners. All 12,000 radio and TV stations in the United States must pay license fees to ASCAP and two similar groups in exchange for using copyrighted music on their broadcasts.
"If they're unlicensed, we send someone to tape the station and we check to see which are in the ASCAP repertory," said Ross Charap, director of legal affairs for ASCAP in New York.
ASCAP sent someone to Roanoke in January 1994 to tape WEFC's broadcast, and found that 10 songs licensed through ASCAP were played. Those "three days are just representative of constant copyright infringement," Charap said.
WEFC is a for-profit television station that broadcasts over the air on channel 38.
It's rare that ASCAP has to file suit against a TV station, Charap said, and it usually tries to settle out of court. But WEFC's owners, Vine and Branch Inc., and its president, C. Kenneth Wright, have not reached an agreement with ASCAP since the taping last year, he said.
Wright did not return phone calls last week seeking comment.
Charap could not say what WEFC's license fee was, but estimated that it was small. As an example, he said WEFC's share of a special $4 million payment by the broadcast industry to ASCAP in 1993 was $35.
The lawsuit asks that the station be permanently restrained from playing the 10 songs again and to pay damages of not more than $100,000 and not less than $500 for each song. Charap said he hopes the suit can be settled out of court, with WEFC agreeing to pay its license fees.
by CNB