March 19, 2010
EMI Publishing Wins German Mastertone Case
According to Billboard, EMI Music Publishing Germany has won a guiding lawsuit against the German mobile network T-Mobile at the Federal High Court (BGH) in Karlsruhe.
The court decided that T-Mobile is not allowed to offer mastertones or ringtones with works from the EMI publishing catalog to customers without prior consent.
In the past, the providers of ringtones and mastertones have challenged the need for prior consent from publishers to transfer works to the mobile format, as well as opposing the two-step licensing model for songs that involves the publisher and collecting society GEMA.
The mastertone providers were only willing to pay licenses to GEMA but denied there was a need for separate clearance from the music publishers.
In its decision, the Federal High Court stated that the two-step licensing model is legally correct and that permission is required from music publishers.
Read full article.
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