Background information

A Spanish collecting society, the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (SGAE), sued a coffee bar owner, alleging that he had failed to pay SGAE the license fee required for public performances of music managed by the collecting society during the period between June 2003 and November 2004.

Case summary

The coffee bar owner claimed that the music it played was CC licensed. The collecting society provided evidence that the bar owner played music from its catalogue. The court held that the defendant was liable because it played music from the collecting society catalogue.