With its fireplaces and cozy rooms, Heska's Sugar Shack looks like the sort of place you want to stay in awhile.
In addition to sandwiches and sugary snacks, the Mentone cafe offers another treat - a record player and a large collection of records for patrons to sit and listen to as they eat their meal.
That is, Heska's did offer the record player, and live music and even free guitar lessons - up until about a month ago.
That was when Heska's was notified by BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.), a music licensing corporation, that the cafe's open-mike sessions and record-playing could be in violation of copyright laws.
Jinyong King, whose family owns Heska's, said BMI told them that they could be subject to a $30,000 fine if any musicians played copyrighted material during their open-mike sessions.
And even though King told BMI the cafe allows only original material to be played, there's no way to guarantee a musician doesn't play someone else's song.
As for the records?
They can't play them unless they purchase a licensing fee, which Ari Surdoval, BMI director of corporate communications and media relations, said would cost Heska's $331 per year.
"We took out the records as a precaution," King said. "We hear every day, `What happened to the records?"'
King said he doesn't want to pay the licensing fee because it's a matter of principle. He only wants original music played on open-mike nights.
As for the records, he said his family has paid for the records and should be able to play them.
But that's not how the system works.
According to BMI's website, "when you buy an audio file, software or CD, even those specifically marketed for business purposes, the purchase price covers only your private listening use, regardless of how they are labeled. Once you decide to play any copyrighted music publicly, you need permission from the copyright owners."
That's where the licensing fee comes in.
"The BMI blanket license is an affordable and fair way for business owners who use music to comply with federal copyright laws," Surdoval said, "and grants unlimited access to more than 7.5 million songs, often for less than a dollar a day.
Augie's Coffee House in downtown Redlands has had the same issue, but with ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers).
Augie's owner Andy Armento said he also had an open-mike night, where original music was encouraged.
He said that after advertising these events on their website, he was contacted by ASCAP, who "strong armed" him into purchasing a $390 licensing fee, even though he stopped holding open-mike nights.
"They told me it didn't matter whether we had people only playing their own music," Armento said. "In the course of a year, someone could play copyrighted music."
This "what if" scenario is what concerns Heska's owners and their passion for original music. A musician himself, King said, "It's not right that we can't play our own creative music.... That was my dad's rule from the time we opened - no covers.
"We're not selling music. We're a restaurant."
(Source: www.sbsun.com)
