Chinese Department Store Facing Copyright Violation Charges For Muzak

from the gotta-pay-for-that-background-music dept

The US and Europe aren't the only places dealing with the copyright police trying to get fees out of every possible use of music. Over in China, a department store has been sued for not paying fees for the background music they played in the store. They're being accused of copyright violation for "profit-making purposes." The department store defends itself, in part, on focusing on issues specific to the (recently changed) local law on the issue, but making a few more important general points. First, they say that the "profit-making purposes" concept is laughable. As evidence, they point out that they stopped playing the background music last month - and there has been no noticeable impact on sales within the store. At the same time, they feel that they're actually helping musicians get more recognition by playing their works in such a busy store. They point out that "the copyright owners of the songs benefit from this as their works were made more widely known through us."

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