FC: More on Finnish taxi drivers and royalties for backseat music

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Fri Dec 06 2002 - 13:37:27 PST

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    Subject: RE: Finnish taxi drivers must pay royalties for backseat music
    Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 12:53:31 -0800
    From: <hartti.suomelaat_private>
    To: <declanat_private>
    
    Hi Declan,
    
    Some additions based on story in Helsingin Sanomat (biggest newspaper in 
    Finland) website 
    (http://www.helsinginsanomat.fi/arkisto/juttu.asp?id=20021204KO3) and 
    translated freely by a layman (undersigned). Does not provide much extra 
    insight though...
    
    The ruling applies to CDs, cassettes and radio play. The money is paid to 
    Teosto (www.teosto.fi) which collects royalty payments in Finalnd and 
    distributes the money to copyright holders.
    
    The yearly fare is 22 euros (approximately 22 USD). The sum was set higher 
    (40 euros) in lower courts but supreme court lowered the sum because 
    playing music does not affect the way a customer selects a taxi cab. Also 
    the taxi trips are usually short and there are only a limited number of 
    customers in the taxi at the same time.
    
    The ruling is based on the Finnish copyright law which states that playing 
    music is public even if the "listeners" is closed but the potential 
    listener base is large and "the act" is involved in gainful employment. 
    (NOTE. this paragraph is very rough and probably I am using misleading 
    terminology, read better explanation at 
    http://www.teosto.fi/teosto/webpages.nsf/Frames?ReadForm&English)
    
    The ruling in supreme court was based on a vote (7-4). The four 
    dismissal-voters said that the main objective of a passenger is to get a 
    ride. The make and model of the car, the features of the car, and the 
    possiblity of listening to music during the ride are secondary to the 
    contract and the passenger cannot, or does not want to influence those when 
    reserving a cab.
    
    The 4 minority voters think that the music has most impact to the driver 
    feeling more happy during the long waits. The passengers might even want to 
    turn off the radio. Therefore the (monetary) benefit of the music play to 
    the driver is debatable. In this light the characteristics of the copyright 
    law are not fulfilled.
    
    (sidenote: in Finland busses, aerobics classes, gyms, etc. need to pay 
    royalties - a yearly/monthly fee - for the music they play. A long list in 
    Finnish available at 
    http://www.teosto.fi/teosto/webpages.nsf/7d7cb8d7c8ceffa0c22565c9004cf780/5fd80a65f6543503c22569bd004d9e3b!OpenDocument)
    
    br,
    Hartti
    
    -----Original Message-----
    From: ext Declan McCullagh [mailto:declanat_private]
    Sent: 05 December, 2002 5:30 PM
    To: politechat_private
    Subject: FC: Finnish taxi drivers must pay royalties for backseat music
    
    
    
    ---
    
    Date: Tue, 3 Dec 2002 20:43:52 -0500
    Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v548)
    Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=Apple-Mail-4-529490129
    Subject: Finnish taxi drivers to pay royalties for backseat music
    From: Bryce Kretschmann <oafat_private>
    To: declanat_private
    Message-Id: <D7921D00-0729-11D7-9EF7-000393BB828Cat_private>
    
    Hi, Declan,
    
    Annanova put this up a couple hours ago, quoting no source.  Lauri Luotonen
    does appear to be chairman of the Helsinki Taxi Driver's Association, but
    I've not been able to find free Finnish-English machine translation, so
    this is it.
    
    
    
    Finnish taxi drivers to pay royalties for backseat music
    
    Finland's Supreme Court has ruled taxi drivers must pay royalty fees if
    they play music in their car while a customer is in the backseat.
    
    The order even applies to the radio.
    
    A case, based on one driver's refusal to pay, is likely to set a precedent
    for the 9,500 cab drivers in the country.
    
    Under the ruling, a cab driver in Finland must pay £14 annually for playing
    music while transporting a fare.
    
    Lauri Luotonen, chairman of the Helsinki Taxi Drivers' Association, says
    the ruling is likely to force most drivers to keep their radios off.
    
    Recently, two Finnish churches refused to pay royalties to the country's
    copyright society for the performance of Christmas hymns. The congregations
    won their case in a district court, but the society has appealed.
    
    Story filed: 17:43 Tuesday 3rd December 2002
    
    
    
    
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