The South African Music Performance Rights Association (SAMPRA) has taken legal action against the restaurants, La Parada, Tiger’s Milk, and others owned by the group Life and Brand Portfolio.
SAMPRA has lodged criminal charges at the Woodstock Police Station against the restaurant group for failing to pay the required license fee for using music managed by SAMPRA on behalf of its members.
The group possesses a variety of restaurants, including La Parada, Tiger’s Milk, Harbour House, Grand Africa, Lucky Fish and Chips, Live Bait, The Lookout, and Old Town Italy.
Per the statement issued by SAMPRA:
“These restaurants have been playing music belonging to recording artists and record companies at their stores, unlawfully. They have refused to pay the applicable licence fees that would enable them to comply with the prescribed legislative provisions. This effectively means that the artists whose music is used by these restaurants will not be able to earn Needletime Rights royalties even though these restaurants are making money in their restaurants as a result of using their intellectual property.”
SAMPRA, a Collective Management Organization (CMO), manages Needletime Rights for more than 40,000 recording artists and 6,000 record companies. The license fees collected by this non-profit organization from music users are then distributed to recording artists and record companies as royalties for Needletime Rights.
CEO of SAMPRA, Pfanani Lishivha, shed light on this matter:
“Over the past four years, we have been earnestly trying to negotiate with Life and Brand Portfolio to pay the licence fees due as we are aware that they are using our members’ music in their establishments. Life and Brand Portfolio is, however, adamant in their stance of using music illegally and therefore depriving recording companies and artists of their right to earn income from their music”.
“We have now opened a case against Life and Brand Portfolio for their illegal and unethical conduct as we cannot stand by and watch Life and Brand Portfolio exploiting the works of our recording artists. We have a duty to ensure that recording artists get what is due to them” continued Lishivha.
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