Constitutional Court
Rules Against Society of
Music Authors and
Composers
A decision by the Sala
Constitucional
(Constitutional Court)
or Sala IV stops the 83
municipalities in the
country from charging a
tax for playing music in
public places.
The court voted on the
appeal presented by
Guillermo Sanabria
Ramírez, president of
the Asociación de
Autores y Compositores
Musicales (ACAM) - on
March 7.
ACAM is the association
of composers, authors
and music publishers in
Costa Rica, who enforce
their fees by way of
municipality, as part of
the process of issuing
and renewals of permits
and licenses. Applicants
must be current with the
ACAM payments.
The Cámara de Patentados
argued before the Sala
IV magistrates that the
requirements violated
the legal principle of
liberty of the workplace
and business and there
is no relationship
between ACAM and the use
of background music that
is heard in public
places like a mall or a
retail store and is not
right that an obligator
fee should be paid for
the music.
The Sala IV magistrates
ordered a temporary
freeze on municipalities
charging the tax until
the appeal period is
over.
ACAM, similar in
function as the The
American Society of
Composers, Authors and
Publishers (ASCAP) and
the Society of
Composers, Authors and
Music Publishers of
Canada (SOCAN),is the
Costa Rican copyright
collective for the right
to communicate to the
public and publicly
perform musical works.
ACAM administers these
rights on behalf of its
members (composers,
lyricists, songwriters
and their publishers)
and those of affiliated
international
organizations by
licensing this use of
their music in Costa
Rica. The fees collected
are distributed as
royalties to its members
and to affiliated
organizations throughout
the world. SOCAN also
distributes royalties
received from those
organizations to its
members for the use of
their music worldwide. |
|
