I guess it means that the establishment has been skating their royalty payments all these years, and they finally got caught. It's always been the responsibility of the venue to pay the fees, but there has been talk (over the years) of passing that cost on to the entertainer. Thankfully that never came to pass. I worked some places that never advertised, because as soon as they DID, an ASCAP rep would show up with a bill.
It's such a hard topic to discuss with musicians ... who gets the money? Who pays the fees? If I were a writer, I might feel differently, but as a cover player - I have never had to pay the royalties. That's always been the job of the venue.
I guess we'll see how this all plays out - in tough economic times, luxuries (like music) are the first to get tossed. Pray it doesn't last too long, and this "cliff" has a few discarded mattresses at the bottom to soften the landing.