The SOUNDCLOUD Company, established in 2008, is an online audio distribution platform which allows users to promote, share and enjoy music. Over 175 million monthly users are a testimony to the platform’s success.
On the other hand, PRS FOR MUSIC is an English collecting society which manages the copyrights of its members, including all sorts of composers, artists and cultural entrepreneurs. When an author or editor becomes a member of the society, he transfers the right to management of his copyrighted material and, in return, is owed enforcement of his rights. Inter alia, this includes debt collection and distribution of copyright by means of royalties, while also upholding its editors’ rights.
The conflict arose when SOUNDCLOUD began offering music from certain members of PRS FOR MUSIC without payment of the corresponding royalties. PRS FOR MUSIC informed its members that SOUNDCLOUD was using 4,500 works of music that belong to the entity’s repertoire and that, upon request, 250 publications were removed. However, the society’s goal is for SOUNDCLOUD to either pay all royalties due or to remove PRS’s entire repertoire from its platform.
After five years of unsuccessful negotiations, the collecting society has decided to sue the music platform, which considers that it is not obliged to pay royalties for offering streams of PRS FOR MUSIC’s repertoire in the UK and other European countries.
The full press release can be viewed at: www.m-magazine.co.uk
More information: Eric Jordi Cubells