ORANJESTAD (AAN): On Monday, the court dismissed Ducapro’s lawsuit against Hits100FM (Q-Waves), ruling that Aruba currently lacks legislation regulating the use, distribution, and representation of copyright.
Ducapro had claimed that Hits100FM acted unlawfully by playing music without proper authorization and sought payment for the usage. Hits100FM acknowledged using music and expressed willingness to pay the composers directly, but challenged the authority of Ducapro to collect payments on behalf of the authors.
The court clarified that in the Netherlands, Buma/Stemra can enforce rights against users, but in Aruba, no legal framework exists to validate Ducapro’s claims. Any payment to Ducapro would not guarantee permission from the original authors or Buma/Stemra.
As a result, Ducapro’s case was deemed unreasonable, the lawsuit was rejected, and Ducapro was ordered to cover the legal costs of the proceedings.
Hits100FM’s director, Aldrich Croes, thanked their attorney Gabriela Sjiem Fat for defending the company and protecting the interests of all radio stations in Aruba. Radio and TV broadcasters in Aruba are now working together to establish a proper association for copyright management.
