The BUSKLAW Newsletter

“I’m a lawyer. I solve problems you never knew existed with words you don’t understand.” On the internet, you can buy a t-shirt bearing this indictment against lawyers. But is this allegation credible enough to be displayed to the public - or is it cringeworthy? Let’s pull it apart and see where we end up! This is a true story. In the 1980s and 90s, a local real estate agent (call him Steve), owned a series of family restaurants in the small cities surrounding Grand Rapids, Michigan. Each restaurant had a PA system that re-broadcast local radio stations to Steve’s customers. One day, an ASCAP representative visited one of Steve’s restaurants, heard the radio station on the PA, and asked the manager if the establishment had a license to re-broadcast the music. The manager referred the ASCAP representative to Steve, who promptly told the representative to “pound sand.” Steve used his common sense to conclude that if he could listen to radio stations in his car or at home witho...