Yamaha vs JASRAC - Copyright fees from music school performances

Zen International Patents and Trademarks

Yamaha Music Foundation has decided to file a suit in the Tokyo District Court to demand a declaratory judgement to confirm non-existence of duty of payment of copyright fees against JASRAC which is the largest copyright collection group in Japan.

In February, JASRAC anounced that it plans to start collecting copyright fees from music school performances from 2018.
It claims the use of music to teach piano or other instruments infringes “performance rights” that are the exclusive right to perform music in public.
Then, it plans to revise its regulations to enable it to collect 2.5% of annual lessons fees of the music schools.

In contrast, Yamaha and other school operators argue that performances during music classes should not require consent from a composer under the copyright law.

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