A lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Jacksonville alleging copyright infringement on the part of Surfer The Bar at 200 First Street North in Jacksonville Beach.
The general manager of the bar did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Plaintiffs in the action are WB Music Corp., Party Rock Music, Yeah Baby Music, Eskaywhy Publishing, Afroman Music and Universal Music Corp.
Defendants named in the complaint are Jax Beach Hospitality Group LLC, Gregory Saig, Robert Tilka and Austin Towery.
According to the complaint, the bar allowed on at least three documented occasions unauthorized public performance of the plaintiffs’ copyrighted musical works.
It further states that the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) has since February 2017 made more than 50 attempts to contact principles of Jax Beach Hospitality Group LLC, owner of Surfer the Bar, to offer an ASCAP license for the venue.
The defendants have refused all of ASCAP’s license offers, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs ask the court to permanently restrain the bar from publicly performing copyrighted material and that the defendants be ordered to pay $750 to $30,000 for each of the three counts of alleged infringement, plus attorney fees.
The plaintiffs are represented by Frederick Page with the Holland & Knight law firm in Jacksonville.