Legal victory for direct licensing in Spain
A Spanish court has ruled against SGAE in a dispute over unpaid fees, potentially emboldening other venues to ditch blanket licences for tailored agreements with artists
News By | 16 February 2017
In what the winning party is calling a landmark victory for advocates of direct licensing, a Spanish court has ruled against SGAE in favour of a venue which had negotiated to pay performance royalties directly to artists.
The ruling – by Judge Pedro Macías, of the commercial court of Badajoz in Extremadura – centres on two shows by veteran Spanish rock group Asfalto and comedian Pablo Carbonell at Badajoz’s 325-cap. Sala Mercantil in 2010.
When SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores), the Spanish collection society and performance rights organisation (PRO), realised the venue had not paid its fees, it announced its intention to collect – only to be told in an email that “the artists had reached a private agreement between them” and the…
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