A TOWN centre bar has been banned from playing music.

A high court judge has imposed the ban on Bar Lush, in Bradshawgate, after it was caught playing recorded copyrighted music without an up-to-date licence.

Rosalino Granata, the bar’s occupier, proprietor and premises licence holder, was banned from playing music and ordered to pay £1,604 in legal costs in the next 14 days.

But he claims he was not aware of any legal proceedings or a ban on Bar Lush playing music.

The ban imposed by Mr Justice Newey also extends to any other premises Mr Granata runs until the licences are brought up to date.

Mr Granata said: “We are not aware of any music licensing ban affecting Bar Lush and the information about this is incorrect.

“We believed our music playing to be compliant with all licensing rules and restrictions — and if there was any problem with this we would be the first people to know.”

When The Bolton News visited Bar Lush to speak to Mr Granata, music was being played.

The judge was told Mr Granata was caught after an inspector from music royalties collectors Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL) visited Bar Lush on November 2, last year, and heard music being played when no licence was in force.

The inspector heard tracks including ‘Wrecking Ball' by Miley Cyrus, 'Marry You' by Bruno Mars and 'Talk Dirty' by Jason Derulo.

In court, PPL’s counsel Ashton Chantrielle said that solicitors had sent letters to the premises informing Mr Granata of the copyright infringement and inviting him to acquire a licence, but there was no response.

The ban applies to all forms of mechanically-recorded music such as records, tapes and CDs.

PPL spokesperson Nazneen Nawaz said: “Public Performance licences are issued by PPL to hundreds of thousands of businesses and organisations from all sectors across the UK who play recorded music to their staff or customers and who therefore require a licence by law.”

Failure to obey the order and turn any premises run into a music-free zone until all licence fees are brought up to date would be regarded as contempt of court, the penalties for which can be fines of up to £10,000 and up to six months prison.