Allowing music to be played on your premises and the risk of copyright infringement - Stephanie David (Practical Law Dispute Resolution Blog)

In Phonographic Performance v Abimbola Balogun t/a Mama Africa, Miss Penelope Reed QC (sitting in the High Court) determined the defendant's appeal of Master Price's refusal to set aside a summary judgment against him. The claim was brought by Phonographic Performance for infringement of copyright, Mr Balogun having allowed DJs to play music at private parties on his restaurant premises.

The case has both procedural and substantive significance regarding:

• How to approach the question of non-attendance in an application to set aside a summary judgment.
• The possible breadth of liability for copyright infringement.

The defendant was served with the application for summary judgment but did not attend the hearing on 20 September 2017. He was served with the summary judgment order the following day. He did not bring an application to set aside the summary judgment until enforcement proceedings were brought on 3 November 2017.

To read Stephanie's full blog, please click here.