Rights body cracks down on unlicensed music

Rights body cracks down on unlicensed music
Mail on Sunday By: Philip Ryan

WITH a particularly tough budget due within weeks, it's the last thing struggling businesses need.

But a crackdown on music copyright infringements has led to a surge in legal cases taken against everything from pubs and nightclubs to pharmacies and gyms.

Figures seen by the Irish Mail on Sunday show a record increase in judgments filed against business owners for failing to pay music licence fees in the past year.

The clampdown by the Irish Music Rights Organisation (Imro), which collects music royalties, has led officials to pursue 118 companies through the courts this year, compared to just 71 such cases in 2010.

Figures provided to the MoS by Stubbs Gazette show Imro lodged judgments worth €697,192.46 against business owners playing music on their premises without a licence this year.

One high-profile target is promoter Darryl Downey of Rag Lane Entertainment, who was slapped with a €144,000 judgment in July for failing to pay fees for concerts he organised.

Imro licensing director Brendan Griffin said that he recognised the financial difficulties that many businesses currently face.

'Money is in short supply but if somebody isn't paying, we have no other recourse but to take legal action,' he said.