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Record companies score massive royalty hike
Fitness Australia predicts the wholesale adoption of copyright-free music for fitness sessions, following a Copyright Tribunal ruling that awarded massive royalty increases to record companies.
Fitness Australia chief executive officer, Lauretta Stace, said the ruling was “extremely disappointing” and was largely based on a pilot economic study commissioned by the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) in 2005, rather than economic evidence put forward by PPCA during the proceedings.
The ruling requires any facility that plays commercial copyright music to pay $15 per class or, for classes of less than 15 people,$1 per participant.
For an average fitness centre running 30 fitness classes per week, the ruling increases PPCA music royalty costs by 1500 per cent from $1,510 per year to $23,400 per year.
Ms Stace said the ruling would make playing PPCA copyright music during fitness classes unaffordable for most fitness businesses and she predicted they would use less costly alternatives.
“Non-copyright music is available from a number of sources and we expect that many gyms will move to these alternatives,” said Ms Stace, adding that Fitness Australia will assist members to do this.
PPCA welcomed the ruling. Chief Executive Stephen Peach told reporters the fitness industry was kidding itself if it thought that “second-rate cover version music” could cut it with customers.
Fitness Australia has appealed the decision.
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