By Jung Min-ho
The country’s newest copyright catfight is over the background music played at restaurants, coffee shops and shopping centers.
Starbucks and Hyundai Department Store are some of the big businesses that have faced legal action from music labels for playing their music in shops without their consent. And now with copyright holders becoming intense in their hunt for infringers, rancor is growing between them and small businesses as well.
According to Clause 2, Article 22 of the copyright law, a music record that has been bought can be played in public if the listeners are not charged for it. However, whether the music includes not only CDs but also mp3 files as well as music streaming remains a moot point.
Last year, the Supreme Court ordered Starbucks to pay for the music played in their shops; but the decision did not provide an answer to the question at the heart of the dispute as the ruling was made based on the fact that Starbucks played make-to-order CDs instead of ones for sale.
According to OpenNet, an incorporated association for Internet freedom, the definition of “record” includes music from all legal channels because it is the sounds that are consumed, not the physical CDs that hold the sounds.
“The Seoul High Court classified memory chips of karaoke machines as “records” for a decision on June 27, 1996,” an OpenNet official said.
“There has been a public misunderstanding of the Supreme Court decision that says nothing more than the case was illegal because the music was not for sale.”
Also under the copyright law, owners of shops bigger than 3,000 square meters have to pay the copyright holders for playing their music. But small shops, not included in Presidential decrees, are not subject to the law, said patent agent Nam Hee-seob.
The Korea Music Copyright Association (KMCA) has claimed that only CDs and tapes are regarded as music for sale.
“I think the Starbucks case made it clear that playing music in small shops is against the law,” a KMCA legal department official said on condition of anonymity. “What the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has to do at this point is to change its regulation based on the court decision.”
The official also said the related clause and article of the copyright law limits holders’ rights too much.
“States such as Japan and Hong Kong erased such clauses to pay adequate reward for the copyright holders regardless of whether the listeners are charged for the music,” he said. “Now it is time for Korea to protect the rights of musicians and songwriters.”
The music played in places such as Starbucks has commercial effects because it creates an attractive atmosphere for customers; thus, the music copyright holders deserve to receive appropriate monetary reward, he added.
With both sides still firmly holding on to their different positions, court battles regarding music copyrights are expected to continue unless the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism arbitrates the dispute.