Dancing without Music: Copyright and Australian Nightclubs

Abstract

This article examines the two-year legal dispute between a major royalty collection body for Australian popular music composers, the PPCA (Phonographic Performance Company of Australia) and Australian music venue organizations concerning the license fees paid by venues for the use of sound recordings in nightclubs and dance party venues. I examine the court ruling (http//:www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/cth/ACopy/T/20071.html) delivered in July 2007, drawing on my work as an expert witness and consultant for the PPCA throughout the case. As a court action that attracted considerable debate among DJs, musicians, and the music press, it raises important questions not just about the rates and methods of collecting performance royalties, but also the contribution of contemporary music to the health of night-time economies, and the difficulties in achieving a proper balance between composers' rights and maintaining a diversity of venue experiences and revenues. The case highlights a national example of an ongoing, international focus upon “secondary” rights as an increasingly important source of artist and recording company revenues.