COPYRIGHT AND NEIGHBOURING RIGHTS

Current IH&RA Position

• IH&RA recognises the rights of the creators of products of intellectual property.
• IH&RA’s objective is to create a fair and commercially viable balance between the hotel and restaurant industry on the one hand and owners of intellectual property and their representative organisations, on the other.
• IH&RA believes that enterprises using intellectual property products commercially and publicly should pay a reasonable and fair price for their use. This price should be negotiated from a position of equality between the two parties.
• IH&RA believes that, where radio and TV programmes are concerned, the broadcaster should carry the cost of using intellectual property.
• IH&RA believes that the fixing of rates and the collecting of fees should be carried out at national level and should be left to market forces. Collecting bodies should be controlled by government and should not have a monopoly position, nor be in a position to enter into agreements with each other to split their respective responsibilities (copyright, neighbouring rights, broadcasting rights, phonogram producers rights), nor to agree on price cartels among themselves.
• IH&RA urges recognition by right owners of the promotional role of the hotel and restaurant sector.
• IH&RA believes that music users should be able to buy their copyrights across borders, and therefore encourages free competition between national collecting societies.
• IH&RA is of the opinion that each country should oppose rates fixed unilaterally (i.e. without negotiation) by the collecting body.
• On behalf of copyright users in the hotel and restaurant industry the IH&RA supports all activity of national associations at both national and international level, and encourages collective bargaining by national hotel and restaurant associations to negotiate special arrangements for members.
• IH&RA oppose any moves, e.g. by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which could lead to a harmonisation of fees (the same fee for the same product in every country) as well as of the criteria for fee assessment (eg. m2/area) on the grounds that this does not take account of the considerable difference in standards of living pertaining from one country to another owing to differing economic, social and financial conditions.

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