A Russian court has fined Deep Purple for "illegally" performing their own songs. Bloggers have already called the decision "fantastic in its idiocy".
The concert in question took place on October 19, 2008 in Russia’s southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
According to the court’s ruling, the musicians – Ian Gillan, Ian Paice and Roger Glover – should have obtained a license from the all-Russian NGO, "Russian Authors’ Society" for the public performance of any of their songs. The organization represents the rights of foreign performers in Russia – even without these performers giving the NGO permission to represent them.
For every "
unlicensed" song, the court imposed a penalty of 30,000 roubles (about 1,000 dollars) on the organizers of the concert for payment to the "Russian Authors’ Society" which, in its turn, is supposed to make payments to the authors –
Gillan,
Paice and
Glover.
Lawyers say the real reason for the suit might be that the "Russian Authors’ Society" receives revenues from those royalties received.
The blogospere has been quick to react to the ruling, and is mostly critical of it.
Read more at Russia Today.com.
