MUSIC corporations are taking the government to court for giving hotels and prisons an exemption from royalties when they pipe songs into bedrooms and cells.

The case is a further sign of record companies’ determination to open up new revenue streams as profits from CD sales decline sharply due to internet downloads.

Phonographic Performance Ireland (PPI), revenue collectors for the music industry, started the High Court proceedings just before Christmas. It is seeking to have part of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 declared in breach of European directives.

The 2000 act exempted royalty collection obligations for the “part of the premises where sleeping accommodation is provided for the residents or inmates” and in “part of the amenities provided exclusively or mainly for residents or inmates”.

Music-industry executives say they would like to set up a tariff for bedrooms in hotels, which already pay for playing music in other parts of the premises. It suggests a weekly fee of €1 per room to cover royalties for music from CDs, televisions and radios.

The industry claims that, by exempting hotels from this charge, Ireland is out of step with Europe. “We believe the Irish government has erred in putting in an exclusion in the Copyright Act,” said Dick Doyle, PPI chairman. “In nearly every other jurisdiction in Europe, music played in bedrooms has to be licensed.”

The Irish Hotel Federation (IHF) was unavailable for comment. Hotels and nightclubs have fought a protracted legal fight over royalties paid for playing music.

EMI, Sony, Universal, and Warner Music, four of the world’s biggest music companies, have brought two other civil actions in Dublin’s High Court. They sought an injunction this month stopping the state returning CD and DVD copying equipment to a man acquitted of operating a counterfeit business.

Stephen Trimble, a Tallaght taxi driver, was found not guilty last June after a judge ruled that a warrant used by gardai to seize equipment was invalid. The music companies sought to have the seized equipment destroyed but Trimble has asked for its return.

In a further case which could set a precedent, the four record companies have asked the High Court to hold Eircom, the country's largest internet provider, liable for illegal downloads. Most music singles sold in Ireland are now downloaded, but for every legal download there are estimated to be 20 illegal ones. Music sales in Ireland have declined from €146m in 2001 to just over €102m in 2007.

The case against Eircom is scheduled to begin on January 15. The companies argue Eircom should install software to monitor users and prevent illegal file sharing.

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