Million fines began to be received by the owners of establishments in Russia for background music

The owners of catering establishments, beauty salons and commercial clinics began to receive massive fines of thousands for background music. Inspections are taking place all over Russia, according to the Baza telegram channel.

The publication claims that fines in the amount of 10 thousand to 5 million rubles are charged to organizations for using tracks without copyright due to the revision of the procedure and rates of deductions for background music for business.

In February of this year, for the first time in six years, the rates were revised by RAO (Russian Copyright Society) and WIPO (All-Russian Intellectual Property Organization).

According to the owner of an unnamed pizzeria in In Obninsk, she received two claims from RAO and WIPO for 392 thousand rubles for the use of eight foreign tracks of the 80-90s. She could not recognize the check, the man who was a "secret guest" made an order and spent some time in her establishment. At the same time, the business owner managed to achieve a reduction in the amount of the fine on the area of the institution.

The Telegram channel cites another case — in a Japanese restaurant in Kirov.

"According to the manager of the restaurant, a secret client also came to the establishment, who recorded what was happening on video for an hour. It was on that day that an intern was replaced, who mistakenly turned on tracks from another service instead of licensed music, " the publication says.

Fearing fines, the owners of establishments refuse radio, subscriptions to streaming services, and even TV series and clips.

Recall that in February of this year, the RBC portal drew attention to the change in rates for background music for the first time in six years — since March 2019. According to the estimates of the publication, rates for different types of business increased by 8%-18%. The RAO noted that the "natural transformation of the market" that has occurred in recent years served as a prerequisite for the revision of the rates provision. The change in the inflation rate in recent years has also had a tangible impact on the revision of rates.