Fight Or Flight

The High Court has ruled that a major copyright infringement claim brought by the Performing Right Society for Music (PRS) against Qatar Airways should be heard in the English courts.

The PRS is seeking damages from the state-owned Qatari airline for using music from its members' repertoire without a licence in place. The airline operates over 200,000 flights a year and includes music as part of its in-flight entertainment services. However, it has no arrangement in place to remunerate writers, composers and publishers of musical works for the use of their intellectual property. Airlines are usually granted licences to use copyright material by collective copyright management organisations (CMOs) based in the same country; however, there is no such organisation based in Qatar.