Music - CDU: State can pay Gema fees for clubs
At the urging of the opposition CDU parliamentary group, Thuringia is making 325,000 euros available to non-profit associations in the coming year to relieve them of music fees for events. The Gema fees and their bureaucratic processing represent a major burden for many voluntary associations in Thuringia, explained parliamentary group leader Mario Voigt on Tuesday. For this reason, the CDU had insisted that the Gema fees be covered during the budget discussions.
Volunteer-run organizations, clubs and institutions should no longer have to pay Gema fees for non-commercial music events, provided that these events are free of charge for visitors. In its session shortly before Christmas, the state parliament also instructed the red-red-green coalition to immediately begin negotiations with Gema for a flat-rate contract similar to the one already in place in Bavaria, according to the CDU. This should minimize the bureaucratic burden for the clubs.
Gema represents the copyrights of composers, lyricists and music publishers in Germany. It distributes income to them when copyrighted songs are played. Pieces of music whose authors have been dead for at least 70 years are license-free.
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Source: www.stern.de
