RMLC Spars With GMR In Court

There’s a new courthouse skirmish pitting the Radio Music License Committee against Global Music Rights, and this one isn’t directly related to how much stations pay GMR for using music in its repertoire, reports musiclinkup.com.

Instead, GMR is pushing back against a subpoena it’s been handed as part of the RMLC’s ongoing rate court proceeding with Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI). After they were unable to reach an agreement on their own, the RMLC and BMI moved into the federal rate court process in May, where a federal judge will decide how much radio stations pay for the Jan. 2017 to Dec. 2021 term.

In a filing in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, GMR attorneys said they were served a subpoena last week seeking copies of their agreements with songwriters, and all documents and communications regarding the negotiations of those deals. RMLC also subpoenaed copies of GMR’s agreements with any radio company, including any documents it has related to station efforts to avoid playing music in its catalog.

GMR attorney Daniel Petrocelli argues the requested documents “have no relevance to its rate court proceeding” with BMI. “These documents are relevant to issues in this action and the RMLC’s action against GMR in Pennsylvania. RMLC’s subpoena is thus a thinly veiled attempt to obtain early and one-sided discovery from GMR while this case remains stayed,” Petrocelli wrote in a monthly update with the L.A. court.

That allegation points to the nearly two year-old court battle between the RMLC and GMR. The radio trade group filed an antitrust lawsuit in federal court in Philadelphia in Nov. 2016, alleging GMR violated federal law when it allegedly created an “artificial monopoly” to squeeze higher rates from stations. Two weeks later GMR replied with an antitrust lawsuit of its own, filed in Los Angeles, which contended the RMLC is essentially an “illegal cartel.” Both cases are in limbo while a federal judge in Philadelphia weighs whether to accept the findings of his appointed magistrate. She recommended the Pennsylvania case be dismissed in order to allow the L.A. case to proceed.

But while GMR is questioning the RMLC’s motives, the radio group is pushing back against the characterizations, arguing what GMR has told the court is “inaccurate and misleading.” The radio industry group says it won’t be able to determine “reasonable rates” with BMI without the documents.