The Brazilian Central Bureau for Collection and Distribution (“ECAD”) challenges the extinction of copyright royalties arising from public performance of musical works in hotel rooms
The Brazilian Central Bureau for Collection and Distribution (“ECAD”) filed a Direct Lawsuit of Unconstitutionality (“Ação Direta de Inconstitucionalidade”) against the amendment to Law No. 9,610/1998 (“Brazilian Copyright Act”), which extinguished the collection of copyright royalties arising from public performance of musical works inside hotel rooms and cabins of means of passenger transportation in seas and rivers.
Before that, in the case of hotels, royalties were charged taking into consideration the number of rooms, even if the guests did not listen to songs inside the rooms.
According to ECAD, the President of the Republic would have failed to meet the requirements of relevance and urgency, which are necessary to issue provisional measures. Also, the amendment would represent an undue limitation on the authors’ property rights, which are protected by the Brazilian Federal Constitution, as the hotels economically exploit such songs by charging the guests for their access through radio broadcasting via streaming or internal systems.
The preliminary injunction requested by ECAD was dismissed by Justice Luiz Fux, and the court records were sent to the Reporting Justice Rosa Weber’s analysis.