TV & VIDEO - Oct. 21, 1988

BMI, an organization that polices the use of copyrighted songs by other media, has filed a copyright infringement suit in New York State Superior Court against Rainbow Programming, which operates the cable channels Bravo, American Movie Classics and Prism. The suit--the first filed by BMI against cable programmers--contends that Rainbow aired songs by the Rolling Stones and other artists without clearance and alleges that Rainbow engaged in negotiations for clearance on “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and 36 other songs but never concluded the deal and proceeded to air the songs anyway. BMI currently has agreements with networks, local television stations and major cable programming services on behalf of the more than 96,000 writers, composers and copyright holders the company represents.

--JOHN VOLAND