Ottobar, Baltimore’s indie rock club, has been ordered to pay over $18,000 in statutory damages and attorney fees to Broadcast Music Inc. and three music publishers after conceding liability in a copyright infringement case.

The suit against the venue claimed “unauthorized public use” of three songs during karaoke: “Take On Me” by A-ha, “Goodbye Earl” by The Chicks, and “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” by Cutting Crew.

Club owner Tecla Tesnau said that until recently, she’d never had any issues with the songs they use for karaoke. Tesnau said she was “shocked” when she was served with a lawsuit last September.

BMI, one of the world’s largest performing rights organizations, collects blanket license fees for public performances of the millions of songs from its catalog, and distributes royalties to rights holders. The company asked a federal judge in Maryland to award $20,000 in statutory damages for each of the three songs.

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“This was a bit of a misunderstanding in my estimation,” said Tesnau. “We have licensing agreements with other agencies, and I mistakenly thought that we were completely covered. … That was incorrect.”

The company’s attorneys maintain in court documents that the organization tried to reach the venue for a blanket music licensing agreement back in 2023. Since then, they sent a representative to surveil the venue and record audio to confirm that each of the three songs were played.

Tesnau said BMI’s lawyers claimed that the company tried to contact her with letters in the physical mail, which may may have gotten “shuffled out into the recycling” with the other junk mail that the club receives. The club owner went on to say that typically licensing agencies contact them through their management email address, and they’ve facilitated the agreement process through that channel in the past.

Still, Tesnau acknowledged her own culpability in this case, describing it as an oversight. Representation for Tesnau and Ottobar conceded liability in response to BMI’s motion for a summary judgment. Despite BMI’s request for $60,000 in damages and its argument that it was entitled to up to $150,000, Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson settled on slightly over $12,000 as the appropriate damages. He also awarded the plaintiffs $6,500 in attorneys’ fees. The team at Ottobar is working toward being in compliance with copyright law.

BMI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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“I guess they say ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking the law,” said Tesnau, adding that a fine of this amount is a lot for a small place like Ottobar. “Definitely a hard lesson learned, that’s for sure.”

Long considered one of the top music venues in Baltimore, the club originally opened in downtown Baltimore in 1997 and moved to its current North Howard Street location in 2001. While the ground-level area mostly hosts live music acts, the upper level, “Upstairs at Ottobar” hosts weekly karaoke and events. Tesnau, who bartended there for over 20 years, became the owner in 2018.

Despite the challenges that come with running a small-capacity venue, the force behind Ottobar has no interest in asking the community to chip in.

“I’m not trying to hold my hat out and ask for help for something that I was ultimately responsible for,” Tesnau said.

Ottobar is planning to release a statement about the situation, with the goal of shining a light on the difficulties independent venues face as they become more of a rarity.

“I really do hope that there’s maybe some room for some conversation about whether this, as it’s set up now, fairly compensates songwriters and artists while simultaneously recognizing the financial burdens that independent venues are beholden to,” said Tesnau.