TONO won a lawsuit against Norwegian Local Broadcasting

Radio Hallo Ski can no longer broadcast music managed by TONO because the owner company Norsk Lokalkringkasting AS has not paid TONO compensation for the use of the music. This is the result after TONO was granted our request for a temporary injunction last Friday.

– This is a very pleasing result. We have been granted the court's ruling that one cannot operate radio at the expense of the rights holders, without permission and without paying for it. Our request for a temporary injunction, which entails a ban on performing music in their broadcasts, was granted. TONO was fully successful in all respects, and was awarded NOK 170,000 in legal costs, says Inger Elise Mey, Department Director for Online Media at TONO.

Never paid for itself
NLK operates a number of local radio channels. Music has been used in all of these, without the company having paid TONO compensation for the use. This is despite the fact that in 2016 the company was ordered to pay TONO more than 726,000 kroner plus legal costs and interest.

Illegal music use
With this in mind, TONO chose, with effect from 28 December 2018, to withdraw permission to use music in radio broadcasts on Radio Hallo Ski. A new license was also not granted for 2019, and thus all use of music after 28 December 2018 has been illegal. This spring, TONO went to court to try to stop the use of music. The case was heard in Oslo Court on 5 June 2019.

– It is a clear verdict. If you run a radio channel where music is played, you must have permission from the authors through an agreement with TONO, and you must pay for it. Now that Norsk Lokalkringkasting has been banned from using music, we limit the damage this company has caused our members and their rights, says Mey.

Read the verdict here (PDF, opens in new window)