The lawyer spoke about the risks of performing covers without a license in a cafe

Most well-known musical works have been transferred by copyright holders under the protection of the Russian Copyright Society (RAO) or the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). These organizations have the right to conduct scheduled and unscheduled inspections, as well as respond to complaints. Judicial lawyer Lyubava Trofimova told Izvestia about this on January 13.

The lawyer paid special attention to the risks for live music venues. According to her, cover bands and performers performing in cafes, restaurants or concert venues are "under the closest supervision."

"In practice, there was a case when a cover singer who announced the performance of a song by Mylene Farmer in the Moscow region received a bill for 500 thousand rubles after the concert. Representatives of RAO, noticing the poster, recorded the performance and filed a claim," the lawyer shared.

The amount of fines for such violations, as the lawyer notes, is often random and is not clearly defined by law. The amount can range from 20,000 to millions of rubles, since the proportionality of the violation is assessed, and the interpretation remains at the discretion of the inspector and the court.

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"As a matter of principle, responsibility comes regardless of the commercial purpose of using music. Even if the fitness club did not charge an additional entrance fee, but simply created a background soundtrack, this is still a violation," Trofimova warned.

Paradoxically, according to her, the activity of human rights protection societies practically does not extend to the Internet. Posting someone else's music video or cover on social media is not considered a violation by the RAO, with the exception of content on major commercial online platforms. The main focus of control is the offline space: concerts, cafes, shopping malls, fitness clubs.

For the legal use of music, a business can contact the RAO, where it is possible to enter into an agreement with the copyright holder. There is an open registry on the society's website where you can check whether a particular composition is protected.

The lawyer emphasizes that ignoring these procedures creates constant risks, since even non-commercial public use of music can result in multimillion-dollar claims.

On December 2, Vladimir Entin, a lawyer for MK Klishin & Partners, said that the owners of cafes, beauty salons and private medical clinics across Russia began receiving fines of up to 5 million rubles for using music. According to the expert, there are two possible solutions to this situation. The first is the conclusion of an agreement with representatives of the RAO, who will specify the terms of use of the music. The second option is to find ways to play music without using over—the-air and cable broadcasting, for example, through a mechanical turntable or a jukebox for coins.

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