On December 19, 2009 performance rights group Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against T-Mobile’s US operation. The lawsuit was filed with the US Federal Court in Los Angeles, CA last month.

BMI claimed it had licensed ringback tones to the major wireless carriers, but that T-Mobile had not agreed to the deal. The performance rights group said the suit related to over 50 titles from its repertoire but didn’t confirm which publishers, songwriters or other individuals the suit represented.

This follows a move last year by the American Society of Composer, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) - which files a similar lawsuit against AT&T. In it, ASCAP claimed that ringtones fell under the public performance Copyright Act. The claim was rebuffed by the court.