The article was updated on 10 September 2024.
Nuuday/YouSee use extensive amount of copyrighted material when distributing TV and streaming content. The rightsholders, acting via Copydan Verdens TV, Koda and UBOD, have been negotiating with Nuuday/YouSee for more than a year now, seeking to reach an agreement and avoid an escalating conflict.
We think Nuuday/YouSee miss the mark completely – Kaare Struve, Media Director at Koda
The rightsholders have also offered Nuuday/YouSee the option of entering into a temporary agreement to avoid uncertainties, making sure that the rightsholders receive remuneration while also ensuring that Nuuday/YouSee can continue to offer their customers the usual TV package content.
However, Nuuday/YouSee instead elected to terminate all joint agreements and sue the rightsholders, presenting an extreme demand: they want the payments due to artists, creators and TV station content to be reduced by more than 70 per cent.
‘We think Nuuday/YouSee miss the mark completely. The demand is outrageous and would hit our members hard. The case continues to have our full attention, and we are working hard to ensure that composers, songwriters and music publishers will continue to receive fair remuneration when their works are used by Nuuday/YouSee,’ says Kaare Struve, Media director at Koda about Nuuday/YouSee’s demands.
This conflict obviously causes great concern and unease among Koda’s members, with good reason: it is already affecting them financially. The issue is quite naturally a key priority for Koda, and we are putting in every effort to defend the members’ right to fair payment and ensure that the lawsuit has the fewest possible consequences for members of Koda.
Given the situation, we very understandably receive many pertinent questions from Koda members. Below you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions.
This page will be regularly updated with relevant new questions.
The conflict is between two parties: On one side stand Koda, Copydan Verdens TV and UBOD, which represent artists, creators and TV stations, and on the other stand Nuuday/YouSee.
Nuuday/YouSee have sued Copydan Verdens TV, UBOD and Koda, demanding that the payment for content created by Koda members (and others) be reduced by more than 70 per cent. In brief, Nuuday/YouSee’s official reason for the lawsuit is that the remuneration for rightsholders has reached a level that they believe to be unsustainable. Of course, we do not agree with that, and we do not believe that there is any factual basis supporting their demand for a sudden 70 per cent reduction. Not least because the current level of remuneration for rightsholders is based on a succession of agreements and supplementary agreements that we, Copydan and Nuuday/YouSee have entered into over a very long period of years.
The lawsuit from Nuuday/YouSee concerns payment for music use in the period from 1 January 2024 and for as long as the conflict lasts. This means that remuneration for TV package content will decrease and may, in the long term, stop altogether within some areas. Some members of Koda will find that the distributions they receive are already affected: within most aspects of the TV area, Koda makes its distributions to members two or three months after their music was played.
We will regularly share information on how the conflict will affect the members’ distributions by publishing the per-minute values for individual channels here
If the ruling falls in the rightsholders’ favour, members will receive additional remuneration to supplement the distributions made so far. We store all data on music use here at Koda, and if we win the case, all members will receive remuneration for the elapsed period in accordance with Koda’s standard distribution procedures.
We have sought to resolve the issue through negotiations for more than a year and have made every effort to resolve the issue through negotiation. In such a situation, there is always a risk that the negotiations will end up in a legal conflict.
It has not yet been decided where and when the case will be heard, but it is Koda’s position that the conflict should be resolved by the Danish special copyright license tribunal, "Ophavsretslicensnævnet". Headed by a Supreme Court judge, this board is specifically tasked with assessing what constitutes a fair price for rights if the parties cannot agree. In contrast, Nuuday/YouSee believe that the case should be brought before the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court. Koda sees this as an attempt to drag out the matter, particularly given that "Ophavsretslicensnævnet" is specifically appointed by the Danish Parliament to resolve such conflicts between users and rightsholders.
Unfortunately, we cannot make any predictions at this time. The time frame of this specific case is not yet known, but cases like these can take several years to resolve. Therefore, it is particularly unfortunate that Nuuday/YouSee do not recognise the special role and remit of "Ophavsretslicensnævnet".
Koda is working hard to ensure that the lawsuit will affect our members as little as possible. As part of this effort, we continuously evaluate and analyse our distribution plans so that the great reduction in payments received will affect as few members as possible in the short and long term. Furthermore, we have allocated all relevant resources in our effort to ensure a satisfactory result for composers, songwriters and music publishers in the cases currently before the "Ophavsretslicensnævnet" and the Danish Maritime and Commercial Court.
If you have any other questions or points you would like to have clarified, you can contact our member service at [email protected].
