Case Q-2240/2016 Entity addressed: Portuguese Roads Concessionaire (Infraestruturas de Portugal) Date: 2016.07.22 Subject: National roads. Advertising. Fees. Double taxation The intervention of the Ombudsman was requested due to the concerns with the double charge of fees for advertising licenses and permits in the vicinity of national roads, both by the Portuguese Roads Concessionaire and by the Municipalities, referring to the same event and the same period of time. The Ombudsman concluded that there were no legal grounds to support that double taxation was occurring, since the fee due to the road administration will be established by a ministerial implementing order, which has not yet been approved. • Case Q-545/2015 Entity addressed: Portuguese Authors Society Date: 2016.12.16 Status: Tax settlement for author remuneration due to the broadcasting of music in a restaurant and beverage establishment A complaint was lodged to the Ombudsman against the performance of the Portuguese Authors Society which urged the complainant to regularize the diffusion of ambient music in an establishment of catering and beverages. The complainant believed that this action violated the judicial decision 15/2013 of the Supreme Court of Justice which decided that the application to a television set of sound amplification apparatus in a commercial establishment does not constitute a new use of the transmitted work and, therefore, its use does not require the author permission and does not constitute an usurpation crime. The Ombudsman has already taken a similar position, however, the recommendations 4/B/2002 and 8/B/2013 have not been complied with. The entity addressed invoked the Court of Justice of the European Union order, dated 14th July 2015, which ruled that the concept of “communication to the public” in the Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and Council, dated 22th May 2001, comprises the transmission, through a radio connected to speakers and/or amplifiers, of musical and literary works broadcasted by a radio station to the customers of a coffee shop and restaurant. 116 |