A Chinese music copyright organization has brought a local chain-store brand in Beijing to court after the supermarket began airing copyright protected music without permission. The Beijing-based Legal Daily reports that the case, the first in the country between a music copyright protector and a commercial enterprise, will be heard by the No.1 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing.

The Music Copyright Society of China has demanded that the Beijing Meilianmei Supermarket pay compensation of more than 10,000 yuan for broadcasting the song, Mother in Candlelight, a work composed by the renowned musician Gu Jianfen, in its Jinding Street outlet in Beijing's Shijingshan District.

The trial will soon take place, but the defendant has yet to make a comment, the report says.

The Music Copyright Society of China, the only institution on the mainland dedicated to the protection of music copyrights, has signed agreements to license a large number of enterprises to play the copyrighted materials in public, including the fast food giant KFC, McDonald and major Chinese airlines as well as hundreds of hotels.

However, the law official for the organization, Liu Ping, says there is still a long way for them to go in their fight to better protect copyrights because of a lack of awareness in the country.

For decades, many domestic hotels and commercial enterprises have played popular music to attract customers, without the consent of the copyright holders.

(CRI English May 12, 2008)