Cass County Music Company v. Muedini
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
55 F.3d 263 (1995)

- Written by Sarah Holley, JD
Facts
Vasfi Muedini (defendant) owned a restaurant that could accommodate up to 128 patrons in a dining area of about 1,500 square feet. The restaurant was equipped with a sound system that provided background music broadcast from the radio throughout the entire dining area. The radio station from which the music was broadcast was an American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) licensee, but the restaurant was not. ASCAP approached Muedini numerous times about the need for his restaurant to obtain an ASCAP license in order to legally provide such background music, but Muedini failed to ever obtain a license. Cass County Music Co. and other music publishers (plaintiffs) brought suit against Muedini for infringement after their copyrighted songs were heard over the restaurant’s sound system. The district court entered judgment for Muedini after finding that the restaurant was exempt under § 110(5) from the Copyright Act’s requirement that he obtain a license to perform copyrighted works. The music publishers appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Ripple, J.)
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