Spas must pay royalties on music in guest rooms, top EU court rules
Spas that offer music in guest rooms should pay those who hold the rights to the recordings
The European Union's top court ruled Thursday, finding a Czech law that exempts health establishments from royalties to be illegal.
The European Court of Justice has repeatedly been asked to rule on copyright fees for music broadcast in public spaces, with previous cases involving hotels and dentists' offices.
The Czech case involved a thermal spa that installed radio and television sets in its bedrooms, but refused to pay royalties for the content broadcast because of the national health exemption.
The Luxembourg-based judges found, however, that by broadcasting copyrighted works, the spa is involved in communication that should lead to "adequate compensation" for the authors.
"The exemption laid down by the Czech legislation does not comply with (EU law)," the court said. In the same ruling, it also found that a monopoly over the collection of copyright fees in the Czech Republic is justified, even though it restricts competition from non-Czech collecting societies.
-Sapa