Fedhasa heads to court over Samro in-room TV licensing fees
In 2023, Samro introduced an additional licensing fee on hospitality establishments for offering a music service via television sets in guest rooms.
Photo: Unsplash/Erik Mclean (cropped)
Stephen Grootes speaks to Rosemary Anderson, FEDHASA National Chairperson about the hospitality industry's dispute with Samro over the legality of an additional in-room TV licensing fee.
Listen to the interview in the audio player below.
The Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa) says approached the high court dispute with the South African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) over the legality of an additional in-room TV licensing fee on hospitality establishments.
In 2023, Samro introduced an additional licensing fee on hospitality establishments for offering a music service via television sets in guest rooms.
Hospitality establishments already pay a fee to Samro for playing music in common areas, such as the lobby or hotel restaurant.
The additional fee now applies to every set in every room in the establishment, which Fedhasa argues is an unfair burden on hotels and guesthouses.
Samro's role is to protect the intellectual property of music creators by licensing music users, collecting licence fees and distributing royalties to music creators.
It collects licence fees from establishments that use music like clubs, broadcasters, retailers, digital service providers and hospitality establishments.
Speaking to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show, Rosemary Anderson, Fedhasa's national chairperson says they've decided to obtain judicial clarity on the matter, having not been able to come to a resolution with Samro.
"Our members in the hospitality sector feel that they're already paying Multichoice and SABC to play music on the TVs, so that's why a lot of our members feel they're double-dipping because they're already paying for this service."
- Rosemary Anderson, national chairperson - Fedhasa
"For a couple of years now we've been engaging with Samro to try to come to some agreement to sort it out, but we haven't been able to. So as such, that's why we've actually gone to the courts to actually find clarity."
- Rosemary Anderson, national chairperson - Fedhasa
The hospitality industry just can't understand this. for the past 30 years they've been able to access this music in hotel rooms all this time, and they can't understand why now they have to pay when they haven't had to pay in the past."
- Rosemary Anderson, national chairperson - Fedhasa
Scroll to the top of the article to listen to the full interview.