Spain: APM v. SGAE, Spanish National Competition Commission, Resolution S/0460/13, 6 November 2014

In a recent decision, the Spanish Market and Competition Commission (CNMC), imposed a fine of 3.1 million Euros on the Spanish collecting society, SGAE, for demanding an excessive fee for concert licensing.

This decision is of particular interest because the Spanish competition authority has taken a new approach when interpreting the European law on the method of analysing the fairness of a fee.  This could lead to considerable uncertainty if this line of interpretation should become established.

A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law