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Bleufeu and Festival d’été de Québec operate FEQ, one of Canada’s largest music festivals, drawing a total attendance of 1.4 million over 11 days and generating tens of millions in revenue each year.
FEQ is known for showcasing some of the most talented musical acts from Quebec, Canada and around the world, and we acknowledge its meaningful impact on Québec’s culture and economy.
Unfortunately, Bleufeu and Festival d’été de Québec have not compensated songwriters and their publishers for performances of their music at FEQ for a number of years. They have failed to pay the legally required licensing fees to SOCAN. As such, SOCAN has brought a claim in court for copyright infringement.
While Festival d’été de Québec is a registered charity, the performances it presents are virtually indistinguishable from those of its for-profit competitors, and Canadian law still requires it to pay licensing fees for those performances.
SOCAN is deeply concerned that the festival organization continues to claim that its tax status exempts it from having to pay songwriters and publishers when their music is performed at FEQ every year.
Failing to pay royalties to the songwriters and publishers weakens the foundation of the music industry and denies music creators the income they rightfully earn from their work.
We call on Bleufeu and Festival d’été de Québec – and all entities involved in putting on festivals – to do what is right and pay music creators their fair share.