Viacom to Pay $2.75 Million To Settle BET Music Claims

THR, Esq. reports “Viacom and Black Entertainment Television (“BET”) have agreed to fork over $2.75 million to resolve a pending class action lawsuit from the owners of sound recordings.

The class action was led by The Music Force, which commenced action in New York federal court in early 2009 over alleged copyright infringement. Specifically, the plaintiffs contended that BET had failed to secure proper “sync” licenses on many of its programs, including BET Impressions, Jazz Visions, and Lifted. TV and movie producers typically need to secure such licenses in order to pair copyrighted music with moving images.

The settlement still needs to be blessed by the judge in the case. . .” ~THR, Esq.