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Spanish Society of Authors & Publishers Fined Nearly $7M for Anti-Competitive Behavior
Spanish collecting society SGAE was fined nearly $7 million for anti-competitive conduct related to its licensing deals with TV and radio stations.
The Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers (abbreviated SGAE in Spanish) has been fined 6.38 million euros (more than $6.9 million, using the average 2023 conversion rate) by the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) for anti-competitive practices related to its licensing deals with radio and TV stations. The widespread application of the flat rate by the Spanish collecting society “has had a double anti-competitive effect,” the CNMC says. Because licensees are forced to pay the flat rate regardless of the extent of their use of SGAE’s repertoire, the CNMC adds, licensees’ incentives to contract with SGAE competitors with less substantial repertoires are limited — a second anti-competitive effect that hinders “the entry and expansion” of those competitors in the marketplace.
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