No duty to pay licence fee for the use of music in dance and exercise classes

Case no. 249/2016
Judgment delivered on 30 October 2017

Koda
vs.
FOF København

The case mainly concerned the issue of whether FOF København (provider of adult liberal education) was liable to pay a licence fee to Koda (collective rights management society) because its use of music in a number of dance and exercise classes constituted public performance within the meaning of the Danish Copyright Act.

The Supreme Court ruled that FOF was not liable to pay a licence fee to Koda, because the playing of music in FOF København’s dance and exercise classes could not be regarded as public performance. In a previous judgment, the Supreme Court had ruled that the playing of music in local gymnastic clubs’ exercise classes could not be regarded as public performance within the meaning of the Danish Copyright Act, and there was no grounds for treating the use of music in the dance and exercise classes at FOF København any differently.

The Maritime and Commercial Court had come to the same conclusion.