Music Licensing

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Economy recently reviewed the fees charged by its various departments, including the Trade Mark, Patent and Copyright Office, resulting in a substantial increase in official fees for the registration of intellectual property rights in the UAE. Chapter 6 of the UAE Copyright Law (and relevant Ministerial Decisions) provides for the establishment and operation of collecting societies to manage the collection of royalties in the UAE on behalf of rights owners. Typically, a piece of music will bring together various works that are protected under the UAE Copyright Law, such as the music itself, the lyrics and a sound recording of the music. If a company wishes to play music in public, then it should obtain a license from each of the rights owners for each piece of music that is played.