Soundreef: Italian Antitrust Authority (AGCM) Rules in Favor of Songwriters' Rights

ROME, Nov. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Italian Antitrust Authority (AGCM) has issued its final judgment further to the complaint filed by Soundreef against the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers (SIAE).

In the judgment made on September 25^th 2018, AGCM ruled that SIAE had - at least since January 2012 - abused its dominant position by practising multiple instances of unfair and illicit conduct against writers, publishers, competitors and music licensees.

According to AGCM, the above-mentioned conduct was part of a complex strategy that frustrated authors' rights and sought to exclude Soundreef from the market-place.

Examples given by the Antitrust Authority of SIAE's behaviour were:

1. frustrating copyright owners' freedom when granting, limiting or terminating SIAE's mandate to administer their rights;

2. establishing constraints, with the objective of managing the rights of non-SIAE-affiliated writers and publishers, even when these rightholders had explicitly affirmed their wish not to avail themselves of SIAE's services;

3. establishing constraints in the licensing activity by users, such as national TV broadcasters and live concerts organizers, willing to sign licensing contracts with SIAE's competitors;

4. seeking to prevent competitors from administering non-italian musical works in Italy.

Further to the judgment, AGCM instructed SIAE to immediately cease its restrictive conduct towards competitors, and refrain from such behaviour in the future.

"We are truly happy with AGCM's ruling," commented Davide D'Atri, Soundreef CEO, "as it restores justice in the world of copyright management. As stated by the Authority, SIAE must cease its illicit and restrictive conduct immediately."

"All those actions that we had denounced," concluded D'Atri, "have now been outlawed and we are grateful to the Authority's officials for the remarkable research and analysis work they have carried out, in a very complicated context."

Soundreef Ltd is an Independent Management Entity (Directive 2014/26/EU) publicly registered with the Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom, Spain and the Czech Republic. Soundreef Ltd operates internationally, either directly or via representation agreements, and it manages the rights of over 31,000 musicians and music publishers worldwide, 14,000 of whom are in Italy alone. These include artistes such as Enrico Ruggeri, Fedez, J-Ax, Rovazzi, Gigi D'Alessio, Maurizio Fabrizio, Nesli, 99 Posse, Noyz Narcos, Achille Lauro, Biondo, Dark Polo Gang and Boss Doms.

Soundreef Ltd is owned by Soundreef S.p.A., a company that develops the appropriate technology for monitoring, collecting and maximizing the earnings of musicians and music publishers. The company regularly deals with millions of transactions and analyzes a vast amount of data, with the aim of improving data security and efficiency in the music industry.

Soundreef S.p.A. also manages Soundreef Media Service S.r.l., a company which provides ambient sound and music for large retail outlets, as well as Soundreef CZ s.r.o., which is an Independent Management Entity in the Czech Republic.

SOURCE Soundreef SPA