ECCO TRIUMPHS

THE Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights (ECCO) Inc. has scored a major
victory against a promoter in Grenada.

Last week Thursday, lawyer Afi Ventour, acting on behalf of ECCO, filed an injunction on Grenada Distillers Ltd., the promoter of “Parang Explosion” and the owner of the venue prohibiting the use of copyright works which belong to its repertoire without the relevant music user permit.

Shortly after being served the promoter, through its legal counsel, indicated a willingness to settle and by the time the matter came up for argument before Madam Justice Mohammad at the No. 3 High Court, the parties informed the court that they had reached an amicable agreement.

Grenada approved a new copyright legislation in July 2011, but it came into effect on April 26, 2012 and this is the first matter from ECCO to be filed under that law.

Expressing his satisfaction with the outcome of the matter, General Manager of ECCO, Mr. Steve Etienne, says where the organisation could have preferred to reach the settlement before the injunction was filed, the action became imperative because the promoter appeared to not be negotiating in “good faith”.

“Obtaining a permit to use copyright material is nothing new, it is happening all over the world through collective management organisations (CMOs) and ECCO presently has reciprocal agreements with copyright organisations giving it the right to negotiate for their members and we will do so in accordance with existing laws,” he said.

“Grenada’s legislation clearly explains what is infringement and in our view, this promoter was about to infringe on ours, so we felt it necessary to stop the infringement from occurring,” said Etienne, who disclosed that other matters will soon be going before the court in Grenada involving other promoters and music users. (LS)