Copyright Committee VNO-NCW, MKB Nederland and Sena conclude agreement on RAAP surcharge

The RAAP-PPI ruling ^[1] by the European Court of Justice, which states that individual Member States may not demand reciprocity, has led to a change in the law in the Netherlands as of 1 January 2021.

To avoid lengthy legal proceedings, the Copyright Committee (“CAR”) and Sena entered into discussions about the consequences of this legal amendment for rightsholders and music users. In July 2021, the parties reached a deal and concluded a commercial agreement for the years 2021 and 2022, taking into consideration the interests of music users and Sena rightsholders, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

The agreement is not legally binding for the CAR participants and/or the members of VNO-NCW and MKB Nederland. However, this agreement is endorsed by the majority of the affiliated trade organizations.

The following surcharges apply to the current rates from 1 January 2021;
2021 + 12.5%
2022 + 12.5% (effectively 26.6 % on the 2022 tariffs)

Sena will not enter into agreements for similar use whereby a lower surcharge is agreed with other parties..

Sena will consult directly with the trade organizations /music users who have already received an invoice for applicable 2021 fees to agree how and when the surcharge will be invoiced and avoid excessive administrative work.

VNO-NCW, MKB Nederland and Sena actively support the (inter)national lobbying of the European Commission to introduce material reciprocity into European law. If and when the European regulations and/or legislation are amended again, this will result in the immediate cancellation of the surcharge.

The parties will discuss the situation again in the third quarter 2022 at the latest if the lobbying work has not led to a change in the legal situation.

If it is irrevocably established in law that there is no basis for the tariff surcharges, then the amounts invoiced in that calendar year will be credited. When this is not reasonably possible, they will be offset in the next invoice sent by Sena to the user concerned.

Hilversum, The Hague 23 July 2021

^[1] HR 8 September 2020, Recorded Artists Actors Performers Ltd vs Phonographic Performance (Ireland) Ltd, C-265/19