The Ministry of Culture and Sports sanctions the SGAE for failing to comply with its obligation to provide information

It is the first time that a management entity repeatedly fails to comply with an information requirement, which entails a sanction regulated by the Intellectual Property Law.

He Ministry of Culture and Sports has sanctioned the SGAE with a fine of 100,000 euros for failing to comply with the legal obligation to provide information to the Ministry. It is about the first time that a copyright management entity repeatedly evades a requirement, since on previous occasions with the start of the procedure the entity has sent the information.

The Intellectual Property Law Article 191.4 a) classifies lack of attention to information requirements as a minor infraction. The Ministry that guarantees compliance with the law and respect for copyright holders, faced with the SGAE's double refusal to inform, was forced last December to initiate the sanctioning procedure that has now been resolved.

In September of last year, the Ministry of Culture and Sports, in the exercise of its supervisory powers over collective copyright management entities, requested information from the SGAE. In this petition he requested, among other issues, the list of partners who had given advance notice of the withdrawal of their repertoire from the SGAE along with their collection volumes.

This information was essential for the exercise of the Ministry's supervisory powers since it could lead to the economic non-viability of the SGAE due to the possible loss, as of January 1, 2020, of the most important part of its repertoire in terms of collection.

Since the request was not met, it was reiterated at the end of November, without the SGAE having sent the requested information to date.

This infraction is not related to the three behaviors that gave rise, in September 2018, to the request for temporary intervention of the entity, which is currently pending a judicial appeal, which is awaiting resolution.