LUXEMBOURG: COMMISSION WRONG TO REJECT FRENCH DISCO CLAIMS, RULES COURT.
Date: Jan 24, 1995
LUXEMBOURG, Jan 24 (Reuter) - The European Commission was wrong to reject allegations that a restrictive agreement existed concerning the French disco music market, the European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday.
French discotheques have accused SACEM, the French composers' and lyric authors' association, of charging excessive fees for letting them play the music of its members.
The discos say the fees are between eight and 14 times greater than those charged in other countries, such as Germany and Britain.
Since 1989, however, all the French courts considering the case have ruled the discos have failed to prove the fees are excessive.
Three French disco owners, Roger Tremblay, Francois Lucazeau and Harry Kestenberg, and the European Bureau of Music Industry Media (BEMIN), appealed to the Commission to declare that SACEM was breaking Articles 85 and 86 (conpetition rules) of the EU Treaty.
The Commission rejected their applications in October and November 1992, so the owners and BEMIN brought actions before the Court of First Instance asking for the Commission's decisions to be annulled.
The court annulled the decisions in that they rejected allegations that SACEM has an agreement with copyright owners in other EU states, thus "partitioning" the French market. It is due also to make a preliminary ruling on the matter, referred to it by two French trade courts.
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EXCERPTS FROM THE JUDGMENTS
(Court translation. Original language of the case: French)
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JUDGMENTS OF THE COURT OF INSTANCE (Second Chamber)
24 January 1995
(Competition -- Copyright -- Regulation No 17 -- Rejection of a complaint -- Obligations concerning the investigation of complaints -- Community interest)
In Cases T-114/92 and T-5/93,
Bureau Europeen des Medias de L'Industrie Musicale (BEMIM),
Roger Tremblay,
Francois Lucazeau,
Harry Kestenberg, applicants,
supported by
Syndicat des Exploitants de Lieux de Loisirs (SELL), intervener,
v
Commission of the European Communities, defendant,
APPLICATIONS for the annulment of the Commission Decisions of 20 October 1992 and 12 November 1992 rejecting the applications made by the applicants under Article 3(2) of Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, First Regulation implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty (OJ), English Special Edition 1959-62, p. 87), concerning the conduct of the Societe des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique
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THE JUDGMENT
The Court of First Instance hereby:
1. Annuls the Commission decision(s) of (20 October 1992 and) 12 November 1992 in so far as... (they reject) the applicants' allegation(s) that the market has been partitioned as a result of an alleged agreement between Societe des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique and the copyright-management societies in the other Member States;
2. Dismisses the remainder of the application;
3. Orders the Commission to bear its own costs and to pay one half of the applicant's costs, the applicants to bear the other half of their costs; the intervener shall bear its own costs.
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