The 2021 edition of Atlas Weekend, Ukraine’s biggest music festival, was again a success, drawing thousands of attendees on July 5-11. But its organizers are now in hot water for refusing to pay royalties to some of the world’s biggest labels.
Before the festival started, the representatives of three international labels, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony Music Publishing and Warner Music Group, sent official letters banning the festival from playing any of the music that can be found in their catalogs, according to Ukraine’s Organization of Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights.
“These letters were simply ignored, and copyright was again grossly violated,” the organization wrote in a joint statement with another public association, the Ukrainian League of Copyright and Related Rights, published on Facebook on July 12.
According to Slukh, a Ukrainian online media that covers the music industry, the headliners of this year’s Atlas Weekend Fatboy Slim and DJ Snake were among the artists whose rights are managed by these international labels.
Atlas Weekend responded to the accusations in a comment to Slukh, saying that they acknowledge the royalties must be paid, however, Ukraine lacks a regulatory framework to do so.
The festival’s lawyers argued that according to Ukrainian law, such fees shall be collected by a specially designated authorized organization, but not a single organization in Ukraine has received such authorization.
“Meaning there is no organization that can legally perform the actions delegated by (copyright) law,” their comment reads.
