TV station in royalties’ feud still hasn’t paid collecting society

A civil court has accepted a counter-claim brought by One Productions Ltd, that a demand for payment of royalties to musicians represented by the Performing Rights Society had been time-barred.

PRS presented monitoring reports of broadcasts taking place during 2009 and 2010, after it had filed a judicial protest back in 2008.

But the court said that since the judicial protest was filed in 2008 – and therefore could not make explicit mention of the particular transgressions registered in the following years – this technicality prevented it from claiming specific royalties on these broadcasts.

However, since court proceedings for payment of royalties were launched on 16 January, 2012, the court said it could take note of the 2010 broadcasts, since these fell well within the two-year proscription period of the case filed against One.

PRS, represented in Malta by its agent Dingli Co. International, claimed that the Labour Party media outlets Super One Radio and One TV have been since 1994, broadcasting various musical productions without paying for a licence for the payment of royalties to the recording artists.

The PRS acts as a collecting society for recording artists, by collecting and distributing royalties to its clients when their works are played during events, radio and TV programmes, and other media.

Dingli Co. International told the court in an application on behalf of PRS that the Labour stations were not licensed by the PRS for the broadcasting of its clients’ recordings, as required under the Copyright Act.

Dingli Co. manager Charmaine Briffa said that both sides had attempted to reach an agreement on the payment of royalties. Despite not being licensed by PRS, One TV and Super One Radio still kept broadcasting musical recordings without paying royalties.

PRS sent One Productions an official letter in 2008, which was then followed up by a judicial protest in December 2010. Court proceedings were filed in January 2012.

Despite two previous convictions on separate transgressions, One Productions had failed to pay any due royalties.

The Malta Copyright Act (Chapter 415) states you need to get permission from the copyright holder to ‘perform’ music in public. Examples of businesses requiring a licence include restaurants, bars, cafes, nightclubs, hotels, live music venues, festivals, cinemas, shops and stores, and offices and factories.