PRS for Music, an association of artists in the United Kingdom, plans to seek civil damages from Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) for alleged unlicensed usage of its members' music after the UK High Court ruled that the English courts have jurisdiction over the matter.
The guild brought the case in late 2019. On July 17, the High Court decided that while the crux of the matter was "a global copyright dispute between a UK holder of those global rights and a Qatari user of the protected content who is using it all over the world", the English courts could hand down judgement.
PRS for Music said in a press release that, unless the ruling is overturned on appeal, it would proceed with its civil liability case against the airline, "unless Qatar Airways takes the necessary licence to cover the use of PRS repertoire, both retrospectively and moving forwards".
"Over the years, Gulf-based airlines have spent more than a billion Pounds on various sports endorsements, yet refuse to remunerate our members for the use of their music on the airlines’ award-winning in-flight services. Today’s ruling is an important first step in our unyielding quest to correct this long-standing injustice and ensure fair compensation for our members from these airlines," Chief Legal and International Office Sami Valkonen said.
PRS for Music alleges that Qatar Airways never remunerateed any of its members for music used as part of its in-flight entertainment. The British guild said that it had unsuccessfully sought to resolve the problem "through customary business channels without response". There is no equivalent Qatar-based guild of artists.
Contacted by ch-aviation for comment, Qatar Airways declined to give a detailed response stating only that "it should be noted that, firstly, no airline outside of the UK has a licence with PRS and therefore this is not a point unique to Qatar Airways. Secondly, this decision only relates to the matter of where the claim should be heard, and is not a judgment on the merits of the PRS claim."
