Stockholm pub sued over unpaid background music licence fees

Dagens Juridik writes that the restaurant received an invoice for playing background music from January to June this year, which was not paid.

Now SAMI, the Swedish artists' and musicians' interest organisation, has filed a lawsuit in Stockholm District Court and is demanding 11,500 kronor from the restaurant.

To play background music on the premises, Swedish restaurants need to sign an agreement and pay licensing fees to both SAMI and STIM, which represent songwriters. The size of the fee depends on the size of the premises and opening hours.