The Performing Right Society Limited vs. Vereniging Buma.

Distric Court of Haarlem 19 August 2008, LJN: BE8765, The Performing Right Society Limited vs. Vereniging Buma.

Copy rights. Main question: what is is online use of music. Do website owners need permission from dozens of rights agencies, such as Buma?

 “4.14. The single judge charged with urgent cases does not get round to the assessment of the claim under II, as PRS has withdrawn this claim after the hearing after BUMA had sent it a copy of the licence agreement which it concluded with Beatport.com.

 

4.15. The single judge charged with urgent cases will reject the claim under III(a), as BUMA has argued in a sufficiently motivated waythat it is practically impossible to fulfil the claim because the licence fees it receives are calculated by means of
repartition and distributed under entitled parties without a distinction being made between music usage home and abroad and between BUMA-and PRS-repertoire. PRS has furthermore not contradicted that it has never objected to the payments it
received from BUMA.

4.16. The single judge charged with urgent cases will also reject the claim under III(b), as the conducting of conversations on the granting of licences at itself is not unlawful, as long as BUMA does not proceed to the providing of licences for online
music usage of the PRS-repertoire beyond the Netherlands c.a. or the conclusion of agreements in which it grants these licences. This last act is already prohibited for BUMA by the allowance ofthe claim under I.

5.1.    prohibits BUMA with immediate effect to provide or conclude music licences for online usage (via satellite, cable or internet) of the RPS-repertoire beyond the Netherlands c.a. or to put theminto effect,

5.2.    orders Buma to pay the costs ofthese proceedings, until now estimated at EUR 1,155.44 on PRS' side”

Read the entire judgement here.