On Wednesday morning, the judge dismissed Ducapro’s lawsuit and confirmed that as long as Aruba lacks legislation regulating the use, distribution, and representation of copyrights, it is unreasonable to demand payment from users such as the radio station Hits100FM (Q-waves). Ducapro’s lawsuit sought a declaration that Hits100FM had acted unlawfully (onrechtmatig) against its rights as a copyright representative. According to Ducapro, they possess the authority to grant permission to music users, collect fees for this use, and distribute those collections to the music creators based on a contract with Buma/Stemra.
Hits100 acknowledged that they use music and are willing to pay the music creators for this use. However, Hits100FM doubts that making a payment to Ducapro would actually mean they are authorized to use the music with the creators’ permission.
In the verdict, the judge highlighted that Buma/Stemra can take action against music users according to Dutch law. However, in Aruba, there is no legal basis regulating the use, distribution, and representation of copyrights. Furthermore, the contract that Ducapro reportedly signed with Buma/Stemra stipulates that the authority to represent copyrights is non-exclusive. Therefore, even if Hits100FM pays Ducapro for using the music, Hits100 has no guarantee that the music creator and/or Buma/Stemra itself has granted permission for this use. Without a legal basis determining the authority to represent the music creator, or regulating the fees a copyright representative can charge and how those collections should be distributed, Ducapro’s demand is unreasonable.
The judge rejected the claim made by Ducapro and its lawyer, Mr. David Kock, and ordered Ducapro to cover the legal costs of the procedure. Mr. Aldrich Croes, director of Hits100FM (Q-Waves), thanks their lawyer, Ms. Gabriela Sjiem Fat, for defending their company as well as the interests of all radio stations in Aruba. Currently, the radio stations, together with local television channels, are working on a structure to form an association.