INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY : COURT SAYS HOTELS SHOULD PAY ROYALTIES ON TV AND MUSIC.

The distribution of a signal by means of television sets by a hotel to its customers is protected by copyright, and the private nature of hotel rooms is irrelevant. In a judgement passed down on 7 December (C-306/05), the EU Court of Justice recalls that the Directive on copyright in the information society (2001/29/EC) provides that authors have the exclusive right to authorise or prohibit any communication to the public of their works, including the making available to the public of their works in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.

The case concerned the SGAE (the body responsible for the management of intellectual property rights in Spain) and the hotel chain Rafael Hotels SA. The SGAE took the view that the use of television sets and the playing of ambient music within hotels involve communication to the public of works belonging to the repertoire which it...