Patrick T. Griffin, who has operated Patrick’s Pub near the State House since 1992, says he wasn’t aware of the copyright rules that have landed him in court.

The Providence Journal Mary Murphy

PROVIDENCE — Just up Smith Street from the State House, Patrick’s Pub is a political haunt known for its corned beef, flowing Guinness and warm atmosphere. A number of Irish fiddlers pass through its doors Tuesday nights, and the owner’s octogenarian father is a welcome face at the bar.

But rock-and-roll classics said to have been played there in the wee hours last winter caught the attention of an organization whose proclaimed mission is to ensure writers and publishers are properly compensated for their works.

The pub and its owner, Patrick T. Griffin, are being accused of violating federal copyright laws four times in February when a band played hits such as reggae legend Bob Marley’s “Is This Love” and Tom Petty’s “The Waiting.” The holders of those copyrights have sued Patrick’s in U.S. District Court. They are seeking $750 to $30,000 for each alleged violation.

“We think it’s important that people understand that there’s a risk, a substantial risk in violating copyright law,” says Richard Reimer, a lawyer for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

For Griffin, the suit is a rude introduction to the world of copyrighting, he says. It has him fearing it could shutter the pub he has owned since moving to Providence in 1992.

“I’m scared right now. I don’t know what we’re facing,” he says. “We’re a local pub, not a nightclub. We’re trying to survive the market.”

Though the suit was brought by the copyright holders, it was ASCAP that pursued the case. A membership organization of more than 330,000 composers, songwriters, and music publishers, ASCAP represents big-name artists such as Duke Ellington, Stevie Wonder and Beyoncé, according to its Web site. It requires bars, restaurants, nightclubs and even stores to pay license fees in order to gain unlimited access to its repertoire of millions of songs. Royalties are then distributed to publishers and writers, Reimer says.

“It’s the responsibility under the law for the owner to obtain permission,” Reimer says.

Reimer says ASCAP keeps an eye on businesses by trolling show listings on the Internet and in publications. “We were aware they were using music,” he says of Patrick’s.

Griffin, he says, repeatedly rebuffed efforts — in person, through the mail, and by phone — to get him to enter a license agreement. As a result, an ASCAP investigator went to the pub Feb. 1 and early Feb. 2 and observed a band performing the songs that are now at the heart of the suit, Reimer says.

“These kinds of lawsuits are a matter of last course,” Reimer says. “We do it because someone rejects our offers and continues to violate members’ rights.”

Griffin says he mistook ASCAP’s pursuit of a license by phone and through the mail as a scam. He says he never met an ASCAP representative in person, but acknowledges he might have missed their visit because he works full time at Providence City Hall and is divorced and raising two children.

“I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing,” Griffin, a native of Ireland, says of copyrighting rules. No one ever told him he needed to get a license, he says.

Even so, he says, the responsibility shouldn’t fall to him. “I understand everyone in the business [of music] has the right to collect dues,” he says. “I don’t believe it’s the pub owner that should pay … How are you going to know what tunes a band is going to play?”

Griffin says he doesn’t remember what band took the stage the night the investigator apparently visited the pub. According to The Journal’s listing, it was Almond Joy.

Three months later, Griffin was served with the suit around 11 p.m. at his home. He says ASCAP is seeking a settlement payment of $17,000.

“Right now I don’t have that money,” says Griffin, who organizes the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. “I can assure you right now there’s no going to the bank and getting a loan for $17,000.”

The suit ended his plan to add more live shows to draw extra customers in the slow economy, he says. In fact, he no longer allows live music, other than the Irish sessions on Tuesdays, he says.

Previously, small bands played more than a dozen times a year, often for free and without a cover charge, he says.

Founded in 1914, ASCAP is one of three performing rights organizations. The others are Broadcast Music Inc. and SESAC; all require venues to pay a license fee to play songs in their repertoires. ASCAP and BMI are said to control 97 percent of music nationwide.

ASCAP license fees vary from $150 a year for a 50-seat bar that features a deejay one night a week to $2,500 for 500 seats and music daily, Reimer says. He estimates several hundred Rhode Island businesses hold ASCAP licenses.

Reimer did not give a precise figure for what Patrick’s fee would be, but placed it under $1,000 for the 147-capacity pub. “You pay a little money a day and you get a license and you don’t need to worry about a lawsuit,” Reimer says.

The suit against Patrick’s is one of several hundred ASCAP actions nationwide, Reimer says. Last year, it sued POP Kitchen & Cocktails in Newport over Billy Joel tunes played the weekend before Christmas 2006. That case was settled, but it is unclear under what terms.

At least one local establishment has opted to avoid the issue altogether. AS220 has a self-declared boycott of music licensing, requiring that all music performed there be original or in the public domain, meaning performers either hold their own copyrights or have permission to perform it from the holder.

Griffin says he doesn’t know how he will proceed, but that he can’t afford several thousand dollars in licenses. “It’s just wait and see right now.”

He is being represented by lawyer Daniel P. McKiernan. Lawyer Benjamin V. White is representing ASCAP.

kmulvane@projo.com