Devices enabling communication of author´s work to the public in business premises

In recent years some collective administrators of author rights (as OSA, OAZA) has been in a large scale turning to companies and persons who provide services in their business premises accessible to the public (hereinafter referred to as “users”) with reminder to pay author royalties (for instance for operation of radio or television).

Users often mention that they do not operate such any device by means of which would be communicated author´s work to public and therefore it does not arise for them any obligation to pay the required royalty. Consequently this situation results a dispute between collective authority and user of author´s work which often gets to the court where the collective authority requires payment of royalty.

 As the Constitutional Court mentioned (decision II ÚS 3076/13 as of 15.4.20144) for consideration of the claim of plaintiff – collective authority is crucial:

-       if the user operated a device enabling communication of author´s work to the public for the period claimed by the collective authority (as defined by decisions of European Court of EU),

-       if such a communication of author´s work really continued for the whole period mentioned by collective authority, and

-       if this involved the work of authors whose rights the relevant collective administrator is entitled to administrate on the basis of an act or an agreement.

In case of the dispute the collective administrator also has to prove the above mentioned facts! Contrarily only the mere statement that there was placed an technically capable device in business premises, which transmitted during working hours, is insufficient.