Slovak Collecting Society Sends Village Invoice For Singing Folk Song About Itself
from the same-old-story dept
Performing rights societies probably don't have the best reputations here on Techdirt, but just when you think they can't get any more outrageous in their demands, they do. Here are two stories from the Slovak Republic, both involving SOZA, the Slovak Performing and Mechanical Rights Society:
The recent case of the local village of Pohorela being charged EUR 62.40 [about $75] by copyright association SOZA because children sang copyrighted songs on Mothers’ Day has to be one of the most absurd cases of copyright being enforced in Slovakia.
Although the first paragraph mentions "copyrighted songs", the Facebook page referred to talks about "our folk songs", which would presumably not be in copyright (Slovak original.) In either case, it seems a bit extreme to charge for children singing to their own mothers. The second story seems more clear-cut: SOZA is trying to charge a village for singing a "well known" folk song about itself, which adds insult to injury.
TheDaily first drew attention to the Pohorela case by sharing it on Facebook at the end of May, but the case is not unique. Other villages and towns may also receive the same kinds of bills, like the one sent to the village of Helpa, which is being charged possibly for singing the well-known folk song celebrating the village called "To ta Helpa!", for instance.
The article quoted above notes that this is not the only problem with SOZA's invoicing habits:
Cinemas in particular are not happy with the fees, which are charged regardless of what film is showing, if there is any music in the film, and even though copyright fees are covered already in the film rental.
Paying for something you didn't have, or being forced to pay twice: sounds like collecting societies are the same everywhere.
Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and on Google+
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: collection society, folk song, pohorela, shakedown, slokav republic
Companies: soza
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
this is surely one of the most disgraceful cases of copyright enforcement ever!
'Paying for something you didn't have, or being forced to pay twice: sounds like collecting societies are the same everywhere'
not just collecting societies, is it? it's the same with every branch of the entertainment industry and we have only ourselves to blame for letting them get away with this sort of thing for as long as they have. sharing has been in existence forever, regardless of how that sharing is done, and will continue to be so. paying sensible money for something once isn't or shouldn't be a problem. being expected to pay multiple times for the same end result is where it's not just wrong but a total piss take. it should have been fought against and stopped decades ago!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
further more, the people they label as 'pirates' are a lot closer to smugglers, if one really must make a comparison to old-timey nautical shenanigans.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
If people don't pay for these things then culture will die and no more songs will ever be made and we'll be stuck with only the songs humanity has produced up til now.
It hurts to even parrot this ridiculous drivel.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Really , lets forward this
This is the most ridiculous story , well other than the one where a person stocking shelves was humming and they wanted to sue her, or when children have to pay to be allowed to sing happy birthday at parties.
Damn there are so many other crazy stories it is unbelievable. Maybe we need the MP's to understand this is not a rumour or a joke but is actually happening, maybe they thing people are just trying to pull there leg, as i think this is what i would think regarding these stories
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Did they pay?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Did they pay?
Here's is something that looks like an official statement of the municipality: http://www.pohorela.sk/pages/clanok.php?id=1232
For those few of you who don't speak Slovak :), it details their dealings with SOZA. The municipality is asserting they were singing only old folk songs that are not covered by copyright and thus they don't see any obligation to pay. And SOZA makes a bizzare claim that even old folk tunes have their "editors" (whatever they mean) and so they have to pay anyway...
Last paragraph is a strong assertion that the municipality doesn't see a reason to pay and that they would be breaking the laws regarding copyright and public spending if they did. They claim they tried to discuss the situation with SOZA on several occasions and that they are prepared to fight this in court.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Did they pay?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Did they pay?
This issue has been tested in court in the UK - and the result was mixed. You need to demonstrate some creative input in order to establish a new copyright and in the one case that I am aware of the "editor" won on some counts and lost on others.
That is why organisations like musopen and mutopia that work with public domain music have to be scrupulous to only use public domain editions as a starting point
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Did they pay?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Did they pay?
Then surely, since SOZA asserts that even old folk tunes have their "editors", they can find said editors and confirm that they do own the copyright to said songs.
Seriously, though, this shouldn't even be an issue. "Weird Al" Yankovic requested permission to parody "La Bamba" into "Lasagna"; not only was he not required to do so due to parody being fair use, "La Bamba" is a traditional folk song and has no one to ask permission from.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Did they pay?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Did they pay?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Evil or stupidity
This kind of crap helps to wake people up to the real harm the copyright maximalist lobby is doing.
If there is anything that is going to save the world, it is that Evil is so often just plain stupid.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
You fools might miss that rough diamond among those rough gemstones....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
If it quacks, swims, fly's like a duck...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sounds like they ought to pay in lead...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Corrupt
All they do is to try and extract money from all the people they can and then find ways how not to pay the musicians. So a whole of money is kept by SOZA and their management. It all falls somewhere between sad joke and extreme corruption.
As to kids singing to their mothers then to pay a fee for this right forms a contract and as we know no person under the age of 18 can enter into a contract. So any such agreement is null and void.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Singing Folk Songs
[ link to this | view in chronology ]