PK Wants DOJ Appeal of Ruling Against 100% Licensing in Consent Decrees
Public Knowledge urged DOJ to appeal a U.S. District Court decision in New York that struck down a portion of the department's decision on the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Broadcast Music Inc. consent decrees that dealt…
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with 100 percent licensing. Judge Louis Stanton said Friday that Justice's Antitrust Division erred in its concluding statement saying the department continues to believes the existing ASCAP and BMI consent decrees mandate 100 percent licensing (see 1609190062). “The plain language of the consent decree, BMI's statements to the DOJ, BMI's marketing language about its licenses, and appellate precedent all support the DOJ's interpretation," said PK Policy Counsel Raza Panjwani in a written statement Monday. "Fractional licensing threatens to deprive the public of access to music by undermining a licensing marketplace that generates over a billion dollars in revenue annually for BMI alone, and which hundreds of thousands of business and outlets rely on to use and play music. This decision introduces uncertainty for users, opens the door to anticompetitive behavior, and should be appealed and reversed."