Open Letter on the Proceedings initiated by the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic against LITA

In the mentioned proceedings (Decision No. 2022/DOZ/POK/2/12 of the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic dated 23 February 2022 confirmed by the Decision No. 2023/DOZ/POK/R/30 of the Council of the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic dated 19 October 2023), the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic reached the conclusion that LITA abused its dominant position by setting excessive license tariffs for the communication to the public and public performance of audiovisual works in hotel rooms.

While we acknowledge that our members’ license fees and business practices might fall under the scrutiny of relevant national authorities, based on relevant national legislation, we would like to remind that collective management organisations have been regulated by Directive 2014/26/EU of 26 February 2014, which harmonised basic principles on the functioning of CMOs, their transparency and accountability. Article 16 of the Directive addresses the licensing by CMOs, requiring that licensing terms shall be based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria and that rightholders shall receive appropriate remuneration for the use of their rights. Tariffs for exclusive rights and rights to remuneration shall be reasonable in relation to, inter alia, the economic value of the use of the rights in trade, taking into account the nature and scope of the use of the work, as well as in relation to the economic value of the service provided by the CMO.

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We urge all the parties involved in the future course of the proceedings, especially the administrative courts dealing with the lawsuit of LITA against the decision of the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic, to consider the abovementioned EU competition law standards.

In the case at hand, it would be especially considerate to refer the case for a preliminary ruling before the CJEU to ensure that the entire proceedings and notably the benchmarking method used respect the relevant EU law standards.

We believe that in this way the right of rightsholders represented by LITA, and in a broader context of authors across Europe, to a fair trial will be fully guaranteed and enforced. Moreover, their economic rights, as the core of copyright, would be upheld since any intervention in their license fees would be exercised lawfully and in accordance with EU law.

Read the full letter below.