Music-licensing firm says operators of Burbank High show choirs ‘refused to pay’ for song rights
Burbank High School’s Noa Drake, center, sings and dances along with the rest of the members of the school’s show choir during practice at the school in Sept. 2015.
A music-licensing firm is suing the operator of the Burbank High School show choirs, claiming the program refused to pay copyright holders for the right to use their music, court records show.
Arizona-based Tresona has accused the Burbank High School Vocal Music Assn., which operates five show choirs, of “extensive” copyright infringement, according to the federal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Arizona.
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Since 2010, the lawsuit alleges, the Burbank corporation has illegally arranged 79 songs for which Tresona exclusively issues licenses, and another 10 for which the company non-exclusively issues licenses.
Brett Carroll, who instructs nearly 200 student vocalists as director of the association, declined to comment on the pending litigation, but the lawsuit states that Carroll told others that it is legal for a show choir to perform a custom-arranged composition after obtaining a mechanical license for copyrighted material.
But the lawsuit claims that’s not true.
“Ironically, Mr. Carroll and the VMA pay tens of thousands of dollars for choreography, costumes, travel, and so forth — but they refuse to pay for music licenses,” said Tresona attorney Brad Denton via email. “When people like the defendants in this case steal music intentionally, the law can require a payment of up to $150,000 per song infringed.”
Burbank Unified Supt. Matt Hill also declined to comment, though the district is not listed as a defendant in the complaint.
When Tresona President Mark Greenburg sent emails and letters in December 2014 asking Carroll to pay the required licensing fees, he received a response from the Burbank High School principal “refusing” to comply, the lawsuit states.
The following month, Greenburg met with John Paramo, Burbank Unified’s director of secondary education, who reportedly said it was an “embarrassment” that licensing fees had not been paid.
But when they sent him a bill, the association “‘lawyered up’ and refused to pay anything,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit makes reference to multiple rights holders who lost earnings.
Denton called the case particularly sad, “since Burbank is so close to the industries that help music writers make a living off their work.”
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Alene Tchekmedyian, [email protected]
Twitter: @atchek
