The South African Music Performance Rights Association (Sampra) has laid criminal charges against owners of La Parada and Tiger’s Milk from the Life and Brand Portfolio restaurant group over unpaid royalties.
In a press statement, Sampra says the restaurants have been playing music belonging to recording artists and record companies at their establishments, unlawfully.
The association’s CEO, Pfanani Lishivha, says the group refused to pay the applicable licence fees that would enable them to comply with the legislative provisions.
“We had been negotiating with Life and Brand Portfolio since 2019. And we reached a point where Life and Brand Portfolio was not disputing the fact that they needed to pay us, they just did not want to pay. So, what are we expected to do when somebody says I know what the law says, I know the law says that I need to pay, and I am using your product, but I am not going to pay you? There is absolutely nothing else you can do other than taking legal action against such a group.”
CEO of the Restaurant Association of South Africa, Wendy Alberts, says obtaining licences to play music at restaurants is costly.
“It is not necessarily about the royalties that are needed to be paid back to the performers. I think it is the cost to have these licences. The tariff costs on these really put on a blanket approach and does not really take into account the business models that the restaurants need to pay, it makes it unaffordable. And sometimes, we need to switch the music off completely for those establishments to stay open, as opposed to getting to a negotiation with the licence organisation to get to a medium which is affordable for the restaurant to be able to participate in.”
