Newsletter
COPYRIGHT STATUS OF SIMPLE BROADCAST RECEPTION ON BUSINESS PREMISES
Recent news reports stated that a copyright intermediary organization had asserted that ordinary ca-tering business operators who turned on a radio or television receiver to allow consumers on their premises to listen to or watch broadcast programs should pay royalties for the use of copyright works. This has created doubts among the public as to whether, when a radio or TV receiver on business premises is simply switched on to receive programs, this amounts to the public performance or public presentation of a copyright work and may thus infringe copyright.
In a recent interpretation addressing this issue, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) noted that in-ternational conventions, as well as legislation in the USA, Japan, and Germany, acknowledge that such situations fall within the scope of copyright, but limit rights or grant exemptions in specific circum-stances. However, in Taiwan such use of radio or TV receivers on business premises is very wide-spread, and in the absence of provisions in the Copyright Act to restrict the scope of copyright with regard to such use, if simple reception of broadcasts were to be deemed to fall within the scope of copyright the impact on society would be very great.
Therefore the IPO specifically stated in its interpretation that for the present the simple use of receivers in public places will not be defined as "use" of works, so that there is no risk of copyright infringement.