A California Court Victory for Law Firms, Patrick In Stolz Case

On July 11, 2018, California U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal awarded more than $900,000 in attorney’s fees and costs in an infringement action filed by ASCAP on behalf of its members.

Royce International Broadcasting Corp. and its principal owner, Ed Stolz II, were told they must pay upward of $1.5 million in license fees, costs, attorneys’ fees and statutory damages to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and its members.

Why? Royce International’s KFRH-FM 104.3 “NOW” in Las Vegas; KREV-FM 92.7 in San Francisco; and KRCK-FM in Palm Springs, Calif. failed to pay ASCAP license fees “over several years” and continued to broadcast songs written and published by the group’s members without permission.

More than 4 1/2 years later, the three stations remain in Stolz’s possession thanks to a Nevada federal bankruptcy judge’s ruling that negated Bernal’s decision, on the grounds that the stations needed to be included as assets held by Stolz to best determine how he could reorganize and emerge from Chapter 11 debtor status.

Earlier this week, there were hints that the end could finally be near for Stolz and those involved in a protracted legal argument that has involved unpaid attorneys, a court-appointed receiver who had a deal in place to sell the three FMs, and a broadcast ministry that had to cease its Leased Management Agreement with the stations even after it began to install its own equipment.

Now, Judge Bernal has issued a ruling that only furthers the belief that, yes, Stolz has run out of time to reach a solution that will save his stations.