To legally play music in commercial activities, Italian copyright law (Copyright Law n. 633/1941) requires the payment of two separate fees that protect two distinct and legally recognized rights.
1 PRIVATE COPYING RIGHTS
Private copying rights is the economic exploitation right of an intellectual work, understood in an abstract sense, as imagined and composed (the musical score and/or the literary text).
Who owns it
The author and the publisher
Who protects it
SIAE (Italian Society of Authors and Publishers), which collects the royalties due to the rights holders
2 NEIGHBOURING RIGHTS
Neighbouring rights is the economic exploitation right of a work recorded on a physical or digital medium (a performance by an artist made possible by the investment and entrepreneurial organisation of a producer).
Who owns it
The performer and the phonographic producer
Who protects it
Several collective management organisations that represent phonographic producers and performers. The main reference point in Italy is SCF (which represents more than 90% of the national repertoire).
Legal Entities and Collective Management Organizations involved
Two families of rights, four legal entities, and, in general, two separate entities for the collection of royalties coexist in a piece of music.
SCF has in fact received a mandate to collect the related royalties also from other collecting societies representing artists and phonographic producers.
When is the SCF Licence required?
- Broadcasting radio programs in a bar or store
- Using recorded background music in hotels, cinemas, theatres, and museums.
- Accompanying gym workouts, sporting events (even amateur ones), or events organised in oratories.
- Enlivening private parties (weddings, graduations, birthdays), aperitifs or sports entertainment in bathing establishments, and corporate events.
- Equipping hotel or other accommodation rooms with TVs.
- Making copies of protected phonograms for public distribution (music providers, DJ sets, fashion shows, fairs).