Florida- The rock group Creed has reunited and joined with superstar Janet Jackson and several less famous artists, to sue a Clearwater, Florida, strip club they claim is playing “unauthorized music.” The artists state they never performed just for the fun of it, they want to get paid — and now they want the club, Diamond Dolls, to pay for what they play.

The artists claim Diamond Dolls let its strippers dance to their recorded music but failed to pay a required licensing fee to BMI, Broadcast Music, Inc., which pays royalties to songwriters.

Top music attorney Jeff Blum, of Los Angeles’ Davis, Wright and Termaine Law Firm, says bars and clubs are charged a reasonable amount of money, which goes to protect not only the rich and famous, but also the struggling artists.

“Music is not free, and it shouldn’t be,” Blum told us. “Creators of music are suffering because people are not complying with copyright law and have a belief that if music is out there, they can do whatever they want with it.”

Diamond Dolls denies the charges. But BMI, the music-publishing giant who is the lead plaintiff in the case, claims to have actually sent in researchers to monitor clubs that won’t pay the fee. When a club plays one of the 4.5 million copyrighted songs registered, BMI moves into action.

BMI officials tell us Diamond Dolls should have paid less than $1,000 a year, and insist that they only sued after the club ignored repeated warnings.