British court condemns Qatar Airways in "intellectual property" case

A British court on Friday convicted Qatar Airways of evading intellectual property rights obligations, despite the provision of a large number of musical pieces in entertainment services on flights.

The court upheld the Performing Right Society Association (PRS), in a question about the possibility of hearing the intellectual property rights violation case against Qatar Airways, before the courts of England.

The British Association "PRS" is seeking compensation from Qatar Airways for the unlicensed use of music pieces owned by its members.

The airline offers music as part of its on-board services along with other entertainment options, but has paid nothing to the members of the association, i.e. it has not compensated songwriters, composers and music publishers for the use of intellectual property.

Qatar Airways took advantage of the lack of an organization representing intellectual property rights in Qatar and escaped the right to perform on aircraft services.

With Qatar Airways avoiding paying intellectual property rights obligations, PRS began legal action against Qatar Airways in December 2019.

The recent judicial ruling, the most prominent event in an important case for members of the British Assembly, was handed down by Justice Pearce of the High Court of Justice in London on 17 July.

In a detailed 25-page decision, Pearce noted that the case was "a truly global copyright dispute between a British owner of those universal rights and a country user of protected content that he uses around the world."

The judge confirmed the position of the British Assembly, saying that it had been properly built, allowing the case to be heard by a court in the country.

The case is now expected to go to trial on liability, in the event that Qatar Airways does not obtain the necessary license to cover the use of the PRS retroactively and move forward.

For his part, Sami Valkonen, International President and Legal Officer, PRS for Music considered the court’s decision “an important first step in our continuous effort to correct this long-term injustice and ensure fair compensation to our members from these airlines. We hope to solve this issue as efficiently as possible on behalf of From our members."

One of the main tasks of PRS for Music is to ensure the licensing of its members music by users, and it has sought to license various airlines.

The organization initiated these legal measures against Qatar Airways before the Covid-19 epidemic, focusing on infringing the rights of its members by the airline.

It is now seeking to ensure that Qatar Airways and other unlicensed airlines prepare the necessary licenses once air travel resumes after the epidemic.