In a separate development, the company has renewed its efforts to get a federal judge to enforce a subpoena on its upstart competitor Global Music Rights, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That performing-rights organization, led by Irving Azoff and former ASCAP executive Randy Grimmett, is not governed by the consent decree that oversees ASCAP and BMI.
BMI is in the midst of a rate court battle with the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC), which represents 10,000 U.S. commercial radio stations. As part of BMI’s latest efforts to improve licensing terms for its songwriters and publishers, it served a subpoena on GMR (which is also in a legal fight with the RMLC). On Tuesday BMI renewed its efforts to compel GMR to turn over internal documents.
In its initial bid to quash the subpoena, GMR’s attorneys wrote in part: “the Subpoena asks GMR to give a dominant competitor and adversary near-comprehensive access to the heart and soul of GMR’s business. The Federal Rules do not require GMR to equip BMI and RMLC with the very tools they would need to unfairly disadvantage GMR in the marketplace.”
