The complaint
Broadcast Music, Inc. v. Kinnett's Anchor Inn, Inc. d/b/a Anchor, No. 3:26-cv-01111-wmc (W.D. Wis.), was filed November 13, 2026, ECF No. 1 (6 pages). The plaintiffs are Broadcast Music, Inc., as agent for Broadcast Music, LLC; Showbilly Music; Screen Gems-EMI Music, Inc.; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.; and EMI Blackwood Music, Inc. The complaint describes BMI as a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in New York, New York. It says Showbilly Music is a sole proprietorship and that Screen Gems-EMI Music, Inc., Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., and EMI Blackwood Music, Inc. are corporations, and that each of those four plaintiffs is a copyright owner of at least one of the songs in this matter. It says the plaintiffs other than BMI own the copyrights in the musical compositions that are the subject of the lawsuit. It says all of the plaintiffs are joined under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 17(a) and 19(a). The defendants are Kinnett's Anchor Inn, Inc. d/b/a Anchor and John Fitzgerald Kinnett, sued individually. The complaint pleads a claim under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 101 et seq., jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1338(a), and venue under 28 U.S.C. 1400(a). A docket entry on November 13, 2026 randomly assigned the case to District Judge William M. Conley and Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor. (Compl. caption; paras. 1 to 8; minute entry of Nov. 13, 2026.)
What it alleges
The complaint states that its allegations are made on knowledge as to the plaintiffs and otherwise on information and belief. It says BMI, as agent for Broadcast Music, LLC, has been granted the right to license the public performance rights in 22.4 million copyrighted musical compositions (the BMI Repertoire), including those alleged, on information and belief, to have been infringed. On information and belief, it alleges that Kinnett's Anchor Inn, Inc. is a Wisconsin corporation that operates, maintains, and controls an establishment known as Anchor in Edgerton, Wisconsin; that the company publicly performs musical compositions there and/or causes musical compositions to be publicly performed, and has a direct financial interest in the establishment; and that John Fitzgerald Kinnett is a member of the company with responsibility for the operation and management of the company and the establishment, has the right and ability to supervise the company's activities, and has a direct financial interest in the company and the establishment. (Compl. opening; paras. 3, 9 to 13.)
The complaint says that since January 2025, BMI has reached out to the defendants over 120 times, by phone, mail, and email, in an effort to educate the defendants as to their obligations under the Copyright Act with respect to the necessity of purchasing a license for the public performance of musical compositions in the BMI Repertoire, and that the letters included cease and desist notices. It pleads, on information and belief, four claims of willful copyright infringement based on the defendants' unauthorized public performance of musical compositions from the BMI Repertoire. On that basis, it alleges that on the dates listed in a schedule annexed to the complaint as Exhibit A, the defendants publicly performed the listed compositions at the establishment and/or caused them to be publicly performed, without a license or permission to do so, and that unless the court restrains them the plaintiffs will suffer irreparable injury for which they have no adequate remedy at law. The complaint says the schedule lists, for each claim, the composition, its writer or writers, the publisher plaintiffs pursuing the claim, the registration date and number, the dates of infringement, and the establishment. (Compl. paras. 15 to 22.)
Relief sought
The plaintiffs pray that the defendants, their agents, servants, employees, and all persons acting under their permission and authority, be enjoined and restrained from infringing, in any manner, the copyrighted musical compositions licensed by BMI, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 502; that the defendants be ordered to pay statutory damages pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 504(c); that the defendants be ordered to pay costs, including a reasonable attorney's fee, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 505; and that the plaintiffs have such other and further relief as is just and equitable. (Compl. Prayer I to IV.)