Saltwater Cowboys, owners sued for violating music copyright

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) — A popular Shem Creek restaurant is being sued in federal court by American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) members for copyright infringement.

The music publishers allege Saltwater Cowboys and its owners, Paul B. Yearout, Wade Boals, and Joe Olindo, violated copyright when they held live performances of unauthorized songs.

The lawsuit centers around four public performances on April 24 of ‘One Headlight,’ ‘6th Avenue Heartache,’ ‘Dust on the Bottle,’ and ‘Let Her Cry.’ Who performed the songs on April 24 is not listed in the suit. The parties want Saltwater Cowboys to stop playing ASCAP songs.

ASCAP represents, licenses, and protects the public performance rights of 960,000 artists. Members allow ASCAP to license the performing rights to their music in exchange for royalties.

The suit claims that ASCAP representatives have attempted to contact Saltwater Cowboys for years through mail, email, and phone to offer an ASCAP license to the restaurant. Allegedly, Saltwater Cowboys has denied every attempt.

Publishers are asking for the restaurant to pay a fine between $750 and $30,000 and attorney fees.

The publishers named as plaintiffs are Monica’s Reluctance to Lob, Old Desperados LLC, N2d Publishing Company, Warner Chappell Music, and Brother Jumbo Music.

News 2 has reached out to Saltwater Cowboys for comment.

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