February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — Ireland’s songwriters and composers may be in line to collect millions of dollars in U.S. royalty payments after they won a provisional ruling by the World Trade Organization.
The tiny Irish Music Rights Organization took on the role of giant killer when it went into battle against U.S. legislation, which exempts most bars, restaurants and small retailers from paying royalties on broadcast music relayed to their customers.
The 20 staff members at IMRO, which became autonomous in 1995, drew up a case that the exemption breaches international trade and copyright rules and brought it to the European Union.
They argued that the loss to EU writers and composers could be as much as 28 million euros (£22 million) a year. Brussels backed the case and now they have won.
IMRO’s director of services, Eamon Shackleton, said the group is delighted with the victory in its efforts to stop creators from being exploited.
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"It is wonderful for such a small organization. We now have the U.S. almost on the rack, sort of speak" he said.
It could mean about £3 million a year to be shared among performers like Bono of U2, Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries, Christy Moore, Pete St. John, and The Corrs.
IMRO’s membership totals in excess of 3,000 authors, composers and publishers.
As a result of bilateral agreements with all similar societies throughout the world, it represents more than 850,000 creators whose works total in excess of 14 million.
Shackleton said it was ironic that a lot of the royalties collected in Europe involved songs and music by Americans, but the artists couldn’t collect anything in their own country.
U.S. music rights organizations have also put losses to their members at tens of millions of dollars annually.
Shackleton said it is by no means certain that the cash bonanza is on the way, as there is an appeals procedure and other hurdles that still had to be overcome.
"There are a lot of ifs still. It will happen if people are prepared to respect the change in the law, if the U.S. performance rights organizations are in a position to collect it and so on," Shackleton said.
"There is a very deep penetration of Irish music in the American market. One of our representatives visited 800 bars in New York and the surrounding area and found elements of Irish music being performed in them."
The U.S. has not denied that the exemption breaches the Berne copyright convention, which is upheld in WTO rules.
Both the U.S. authorities and the EU have about six weeks to consider the contents of the lengthy interim ruling of the WTO that followed several hearings.
In the meantime, the Dispute Panel has recommended that the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO request the U.S. to bring its laws into conformity with its obligations under international law.
"Ultimately, if the whole thing is upheld, the WTO has powers of sanction and penalty to compensate us if remedial action is not taken in America," Shackelton said.
"Even if it falls eventually, I think our victory will mark a sea change within the U.S. about their obligations for intellectual property."