EU: General Court partially overturns Commission ruling on rights collectors

The EU General Court has dealt a blow to the European Commission as it has partially reversed the Commission’s 2008 ruling against rights collecting societies. The Commission originally found the societies to have acted ant competitively, a decision the General Court now says does not have sufficient evidence. The case, CISAC vs Commission and Others, was based on complaints issued to the Commission filed in 2000 and 2003 alleging that CISAC, an umbrella company representing several collecting societies, acted ant competitively concerning its non-binding model contract, which was first established in 1936. According to reports, the contract was found to have been anticompetitive as it limited the ability to grant licenses in the territory of another collecting society party. The Commission subsequently ordered the societies to end the policy. The General Court has ruled, however, that there was not sufficient evidence for the Commission’s decision and partially annulled the ruling.

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