What can Sabam do in the event of plagiarism?
Sabam cannot intervene in cases of (suspected) plagiarism. We only manage your economic rights and are not permitted to become involved in plagiarism disputes. Sabam does, however, collect your authors’ rights royalties and distribute them to you.
When is there plagiarism?
If a work bears a strong resemblance to one of your works, plagiarism may be involved. This constitutes a potential infringement of your moral rights.
Only you can decide whether to take action, such as contacting the other party or initiating legal proceedings. Ultimately, only the courts can determine whether plagiarism has actually occurred. In such disputes, Sabam remains neutral between rights holders.
How can Sabam help?
Sabam can arrange for an objective analysis to be carried out by a panel of experts and authors specialising in your genre. The process is as follows:
- We collect the necessary documentation.
- The panel compares the two works.
- You receive a technical expert report.
The fixed fee for this service is €1,500 (which corresponds to the actual cost of the analysis).
What does the expert report contain?
The panel analyses, among other things, musical scores and sound recordings, and compares elements such as key, melody, bass lines, tempo and structure. The panel does not determine whether plagiarism has occurred. Instead, it prepares a technical report outlining the similarities and differences between the two works.
What happens next?
You will receive the report and decide for yourself whether to take further action. If you decide to proceed, Sabam will provide a copy of the report to the other party.
Please note: a court may still appoint its own independent expert and commission a separate analysis. Pending an agreement or court decision, you may ask Sabam to temporarily block the royalties relating to the work concerned. Such a decision is taken by Sabam’s Board of Directors and remains in effect for a maximum period of one year, or until a court ruling is issued.