Wedding Crashers In Spain Actually The Copyright Cops

from the did-you-pay-for-that-performance-of-YMCA? dept

I tend to believe that the various song performance "collections" organizations around the world have a history of going too far in trying to collect on every possible use of a song. However, it seems they can always go a step further. Apparently, in Spain, the collections group there, the Spanish General Society of Authors and Editors (SGAE), has been not just crashing weddings, but secretly videotaping them to record evidence of music being played. The venue, of course, is supposed to pay music performance royalties, and SGAE believes that it applies to such private gatherings as well -- though, it still seems a bit extreme to crash a wedding and film it. However, at least the courts in Spain realize that this seems a bit ridiculous and have fined the society for "breaching the intimacy" of the married couple with one such video. In the end, the society was fined more than the restaurant for not having the requisite license.

Filed Under: collections society, copyright, spain, wedding crashers