Intellectual property – copyright – Copyright Tribunal – royalty rate – commercial dubbers – narrowcasters – s.129 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
The Appellant contended that the Copyright Tribunal had erred in law in determining the royalty to be paid by the Respondent, Candy Rock Recording Ltd. The central issue was whether the Tribunal had been correct in setting a rate which took account of the fact that narrowcasters were (by law) exempt from the site licence fee which commercial dubbers (such as Candy Rock) had to pay.
Whether the Copyright Tribunal had erred in law in setting the royalty rate which the Respondent had to pay by taking into account the fact that narrowcasters were exempt from the site licence fee which commercial dubbers (such as Candy Rock) had to pay.
S.129 CDPA did not require the Tribunal to consider only licences issued by one person. The site licence factor was relevant for the Tribunal to take into account when seeking to secure that there was no unreasonable discrimination between licensees.
The decision further illustrates the difficulties of launching a successful appeal from the Copyright Tribunal.