A decision that provokes strong reactions.
Justice ruled in favor of the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers (Sacem) on Wednesday by ruling that it is indeed entitled to collect royalties for the broadcast of music during funeral ceremonies, reports l’Informed.
A verdict greeted with dismay by those who see it as a lack of respect for the deceased and the grieving families.
A lack of tact illustrated by the presence of an observer from Sacem during a ceremony organized at the Père-Lachaise crematorium last November, on site to listen to the musical works broadcast.
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If, until 2019, funeral organizers paid broadcasting rights, OGF (Omnium de gestion et de financing), owner of General Funeral Homes (PFG), decided to stop paying due to the amounts requested.
The company even took legal action against the collection organizations Sacem and Spré (Society for the Collection of Fair Remuneration), reports the media.
“Copyright infringement”
After long months of battle during which the rights holders put forward their arguments and multiplied the investigations, the Paris judicial court decided to agree with them and even to sanction OGF for counterfeiting, for having played music without authorization.
“The broadcast by the company OGF of musical works during funerals, without prior authorization from the rights holders (…), constitutes an unauthorized representation of these works and, therefore, an infringement of copyright,” indicated the judges in their decision dated January 31.
The burial giant must reimburse Sacem 70,000 euros and pay 10,000 euros in damages.
If the amount is lower than what the copyright management company expected to receive, it could be much higher, OGF having to cost all the ceremonies organized in recent years.
To this are added 36,500 euros in fair remuneration for the Spré, and 10,000 euros to cover the legal costs of the two representatives of the cultural industries, specifies l'Informed.
Sacem increased its prices by 72%
The tensions between the OGF and Sacem have their origins in November 2019. While a so-called “representation” contract dating from 2006 allowed the company to broadcast music for a flat rate of 1.93 euros excluding taxes per ceremony, Sacem increased its prices by 72% at the end of 2019, demanding 3.33 euros excluding tax per ceremony, leading to a termination of the contract.
Before the courts, OGF defended itself by considering that the music broadcast during funerals does not constitute “communication to the public”, but rather a broadcast intended for a restricted audience, namely the relatives of the deceased.
An argument that the court did not wish to hear, which considers that the OGF is a commercial company and that music has an economic component included in the final price.