ARLINGTON, VA — The owners of Northside Social Coffee & Wine in Arlington are being sued by a group representing songwriters for allegedly playing songs without permission.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) said the lawsuit addresses the "unauthorized public performance of its members' copyrighted musical works."

"Our goal is to have businesses comply with the law so that our members can be paid for use of their work, and the establishments sued today have decided not to compensate songwriters," ASCAP Executive Vice President of Licensing Stephanie Ruyle said. "By filing these actions, ASCAP is standing up for songwriters whose creative work brings great value to all businesses that publicly perform their music."