Before you call the PRO back
A one-page order of operations for a music-licensing letter or call — ASCAP · BMI · SESAC · GMR
The letter is real and lawful — and it is not a same-day emergency. A PRO collects the public-performance royalties federal law reserves to songwriters (17 U.S.C. §106(4)), acting as the owners' agent. Contact runs over months, not hours. You have time to respond correctly: use it to verify, not to react — and not to ignore.
- 1Verify the sender and confirm the claim is yours. Confirm through the PRO's own website phone number, not only the letter's. Letters reach former owners, prior tenants, and closed entities — if the business named isn't yours as it exists now, that's a written factual response with documentation, not a bill. Ask that everything further be put in writing.
- 2Pin down exactly what is being claimed. Which PRO and catalog · what music use it asserts (live, recorded/streamed, TV, karaoke) · what period and dollar figure. No single license covers all four PROs. Answer accurately, in writing, only about what you can confirm.
- 3Test the one exemption before you assume you owe. Only a broadcast radio or TV signal can qualify (17 U.S.C. §110(5)(B)) — size limits, no cover charge, no re-transmission. Streaming, playlists, background-music services, live music, and karaoke are outside it at any size. Most venues are not exempt. Run the screener on the site before relying on it — a wrong claim costs double the fees for up to 3 prior years (§504(d)).
- 4Weigh the real options. Exempt on solid grounds → document your setup in writing first. Owe → license and right-size within the rate structure (ASCAP/BMI have a court-set-rate backstop; SESAC/GMR are private agreement). Claim wrong → correct it in writing, with documentation.
- 5Respond — deliberately. A licensing letter answered in writing, on your timeline, with verified facts, is a manageable outcome reached calmly — the gap between a license (hundreds to low thousands a year) and a judgment ($750–$30,000 per work, §504(c)) is the reason the order matters.
The four moves that make it worse
- Ignoring it. The contact doesn't expire; ignored letters became the record that ended in judgment in BMI v. Evie's Tavern — owner personally liable.
- Admitting facts carelessly on a call. Off-the-cuff statements become evidence. Verify first; respond accurately in writing.
- Claiming the exemption without grounds. §504(d): double the license fees, up to 3 prior years, on top of damages.
- Treating the anger as a plan. The feeling doesn't change the statute or the exposure.
Stop and call a lawyer if
- A lawsuit has been filed and served, or a complaint is attached — court deadlines are short and missing them forfeits defenses.
- The letter is on law-firm letterhead with a specific response deadline.
- A settlement figure is on the table you can't evaluate against your actual use.
- Personal liability is in play — for an owner-operator it often is.
Why deliberate beats fast: the downside of getting this wrong is many times the cost of getting it right. That asymmetry — not fear — is the reason to verify and check before any payment or any refusal.