This antitrust exemption granted by the European Commission promises to introduce more competition for European television and radio companies, which simultaneously broadcast music shows on the internet. It will also boost competition among the societies that collect the royalties on behalf of the music industry, most notably in terms of the fees they charge.
Radio and television broadcasters have in the last few years begun to broadcast their programmes via the internet along with the traditional terrestrial or cable transmission to European homes. This practice, known as simulcasting, requires broadcasters to obtain international licenses from music rights owners.
The new rules affect the copyright administration societies of music record companies but do not concern authors' rights, which are collected by different agencies.
The collecting societies agreed to grant ‘one-stop’ licences covering all the territories in which the local record producers' society is a party to the agreement. This includes the whole of the EEA (which groups the 15 EU states plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) except for Spain and France. The agreement also includes societies from Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and New Zealand.
Broadcasters whose signals originate in an EEA member State will be able to approach any EEA-based collecting society of their choice for the simulcast license.