Soulfest promoter ordered to pay just under $500K for copyright infringement

The promoter behind the beleaguered Soulfest has been ordered to pay industry bodyAPRA AMCOS$437,000 in compensatory and additional damages.

At a hearing at the Federal Circuit Court in Sydney yesterday, Judge Alexander Street ended a two-year court battle, rulingJohn Denison was to be charged for flagrant infringement of the Copyright Act, with debts accumulated since 2014 fromSoulfest, Supafest and other tours and events.

Denison, who continues to trade as a concert promoter under his March-launched corporate entity, iLive Entertainment, infringed copyright by hosting his events without paying a license fee to APRA AMCOS. He will also pay $70,000 in legal costs.

Richard Mallett, Head of Revenue at APRA AMCOS, said the body made “many genuine attempts to license the events so that it could promote live music while still protecting itsmembership.”

“We maintain APRA AMCOS’ members are among the most vulnerable service providers when it comes to promoters like this,” said Mallett. “Venues, caterers and artists are able to withhold their services – but songwriters’ work cannot be withheld ‘after the fact.’ Their only recourse is to trust in the courts and their membership to APRA AMCOS, to protect their rights.”

More than 60 major event promoters are licenced with APRA AMCOS.The cost of a festival licence is calculated at a percentage of gross ticket sales (between 1.2375% and 1.65% in 2016).

Speaking to TMN, Mallett said Soulfest was not the only event Denison for which he had infringed copyright.

“The 2014 Soulfest was by no means the first concert for which a licence was either not obtained or full payment not made,” he said. “This ruling will serve as a deterrent to other unlicensed promoters and help ensure that songwriters are paid for their works when they are played live.”

Mallett said he was not surprised by the ruling, after he read comments made by Denison in Fairfax:

“I read in Fairfax Media that Mr Denison has said, on record, that he’s been sued for a long timeand that he is an expert at this, so I was not surprised that the Judge found that the conduct of Mr Denison demonstrated an intentional disregard for the licensing requirements and the interests of the copyright owner, and demonstrated a level of dishonesty.”

The second ever Soullfest was cancelled in a week out in October 2015; Denison cited poor ticket sales as the reason. It was set to go ahead in Melbourne and Sydney featuring sets from Lauryn Hill, Miguel, De La Soul, Remi, Mary J Blige and more.