Sworn attorney Anneli Aab of Sirel & Partners Law Firm successfully represented Ivar Must, the author of one of the most well-known songs in Estonian music history, in the district court proceeding. On 14 April 2023, the musical piece “Everybody” by Ivar Must was performed at the EFTA Gala in a modified and processed form. The author of the song was not asked for consent to the modification of the work and no fee was paid. Ivar Must went to court regarding the violation of his copyright.
The first instance court granted the claim but the organizer of the EFTA Gala, the Estonian Film Institute (EFI), appealed the decision to the second instance court. In the recent decision, the district court agrees with the claimant’s position and the conclusion of the county court that the Estonian Copyright Act clearly provides for the author’s personal and proprietary rights to make changes (arrangements) in the work that are not only creative. Making a change to the work can simultaneously violate both the author’s proprietary and personal copyright. Therefore, the EFI’s position that the author’s consent should be sought only when the work is arranged or other creative changes were not confirmed by the district court. The court explained that since the external form of any musical piece is a sound, the work is subject to protection precisely in the external form of sound in which the author created it. The fact that malpractice may spread in the music industry does not change the above, and the court also emphasized that although it may be burdensome and time-consuming for concert organizers to obtain the author’s consent for each change to a work, this does not outweigh the author’s right to the integrity of the work and the right to adapt the work.
The court decision has not yet entered into force.
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