Brussels, 14/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - The International Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies (CISAC) lodged an appeal with the Court of First Instance (Case T-442/08) on 8 October, against the Commission's decision of 16 July, which condemns the geographical restrictions that several companies apply to their music copyright management services (EUROPE 9705).
The practices condemned by the Commission, which has not imposed any fines, restrict the activities of these companies to their respective national territories, through bilateral reciprocal representative agreements between CISAC members. A press release published last Wednesday explained that CISAC believes that this system “results from a desire for efficient global copyright management and not a concertation aimed at restricting competition, as the Commission claims”. The CISAC initiative to quash the Commission's decision is also supported by 22 of its members and national author companies. A date for proceedings has not yet been decided. (C.D/transl.rh)