KÜHEYLAN HUKUK
Music Broadcasting in Businesses: MESAM, MSG and MÜYORBİR Is Royalty Fee Mandatory? The legal nature of background music in cafes, restaurants, hotels, hairdressers and stores, the authority of professional associations, one-stop licensing protocols, royalty compensation and penalty risk. This guide has been updated as of 2026, based on the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works No. 5846, the protocols signed between music professional associations and industry associations, and the Supreme Court case law.
Music played to customers in a cafe, restaurant, hairdresser or store is legally a communication of the work to the public and can be done with the permission of the rights holders. In practice, this permission is provided with a license obtained from music professional associations. An individual digital music subscription does not include permission to stream in a commercial venue. Unlicensed broadcasting gives rights holders the right to demand compensation up to three times the contract price and constitutes a complaint-based crime. This guide explains the legal basis of the payment obligation, which associations follow which rights, the one-stop licensing protocol signed for the gastronomy sector in 2025, compensation cases filed by professional associations, and the Supreme Court's decision dated 2026 on the cafe operator.
1. Why Is Background Music Charged?
The Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (FSEK) grants the owner of a work the exclusive right to communicate it to the public by any means used to convey any sign, sound or image (Article 25). The same protection is granted as a related right to the performers who perform the song and the phonogram producers who record the sound (Art. 80). Playing music via radio, television, the internet or recorded lists in a business open to customers is, in this context, transmission to the public. It does not change the result if the business does not directly generate income from music or if the music only plays in the background.
A common mistake in practice is to think that a personal digital music or video subscription can be used in business. These subscriptions are, as a rule, for individual and non-commercial use. Broadcasting in a commercial venue requires a separate license; Licensed music services for businesses provide protection to the extent their scope is clearly stated in the contract.
2. Which Union Follows Which Rights?
Rights holders establish professional associations to monitor their rights and collect fees (FSEK art. 41-42). Playing a song in business concerns multiple groups of rights holders simultaneously:
Lyricists and composers MESAM, MSG Public transmission and representation rights of the author
Performing artists MÜYORBİR and other performer unions Related rights arising from the communication of the execution to the public
phonogram producers MÜYAP and other producer unions Related rights arising from the communication of the sound recording to the public
This multi-headed structure has resulted in businesses receiving separate requests from more than one union and has been the subject of complaints for a long time. Under the coordination of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, a single-source licensing protocol was signed between the federations of work owners and related rights holders and TÜRES and TURYİD in 2023 for the accommodation sector and on March 6, 2025 for the gastronomy sector. According to the Ministry's statement, in the gastronomy protocol, prices are determined according to the capacity and type of the business, and an average of 70 percent discount is envisaged in the tariff fees.
3. What happens if the license is not obtained?
Professional associations usually document that unlicensed broadcasting is taking place through the court, with evidence obtained through the court, and then file a lawsuit for compensation. In accordance with Article 68 of FSEK, due to transmission to the public without permission, a maximum of three times the price that would have been requested if the contract had been made or the current price may be requested. The 11th Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals approved the award of 24,704.19 TL in compensation based on expert opinion due to the unauthorized transmission of phonograms to the public in a five-star hotel (11th HD, 16.01.2025, E.2024/4309, K.2025/187).
The limit of compensation is drawn by the detected violation. The Department accepted that the precedent contract price was 2,319.40 TL in terms of the records belonging to the producer, which were determined to have been stolen only during the detection in another hotel file, and that it was appropriate to award compensation of 6,958.20 TL, which is three times more (11th HD, 12.03.2025, E.2024/6691, K.2025/1738). This approach shows that the tariff fee requested by the union does not always coincide with the amount the court will rule. In the case, the union must document its right ownership or representation authority in terms of the stolen works.
Anyone who transmits a work, performance or phonogram to the public without the written permission of the rights holders is sentenced to imprisonment from one to five years or a judicial fine (FSEK article 71/1). The investigation depends on the complaint, and for the complaint to be valid, documents showing entitlement must be submitted to the prosecutor's office within the complaint period (Art. 75). Crime is within the scope of mediation.
In its decision dated 2026, the 7th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals evaluated the defense of the cafe operator, who connected the music to the amplifier through an application on the tablet computer and played it to his customers. The operator claimed that he paid approximately 100 TL per month for the application, therefore he would be deemed to have paid the royalties and that he did not make any profit from the music; The department, on the other hand, accepted that the crime in FSEK Article 71/1 occurred by having customers listen to the work that the professional association is entitled to. It is also seen in the file that the conciliation attempt was unsuccessful (7. CD, 05.05.2026, E.2025/4040, K.2026/5401).
4. What should a business that receives a warning or detection report do?
Examining the owner and authority of the request: It should be determined which rights group the union sending the notice represents and which repertoire the business used in the requested period.
Checking the detection report: The time, the name and performer of the stolen work, the broadcasting medium and the public part of the venue should be clearly stated in the report. The music that the staff listens to through their own headphones is not broadcast to the public.
Applying the tariff to the business: It should be checked whether criteria such as square meters, capacity, business type and season are applied correctly. Reduced tariffs within the scope of industry protocols should be requested.
Separating past term from future term: Negotiating compensation for past use and future term license should be handled separately.
Evaluating mediation in a criminal complaint: Conciliation made under a license and at a reasonable cost can end the case before a conviction is reached. Case Study: Warning Letter Received to the Hairdresser's Salon
S.D., who runs a 45 square meter hair salon in Izmir, plays music through speakers in the salon through his personal music subscription. A professional association sent a notice demanding payment of three times the tariff fee for the previous two-year period and stated that otherwise a lawsuit would be filed and a criminal complaint would be filed.
The hair salon is a place open to customers; Playing music here is a public transmission and personal subscription does not include commercial broadcast permission. Therefore, the obligation to pay essentially exists. However, the requested amount is not automatically correct. First of all, it should be examined which rights the union follows, how and on what dates the past use was determined, and whether the tariff is applied correctly to the square meter and type of the hall. As seen in the Supreme Court's hotel decisions dated 2025, compensation is calculated based on the determined usage and precedent contract value. S.D. The realistic solution for this is to obtain the future license at an appropriate tariff and negotiate the past period demand within this framework.
Is there a fee to turn on the radio?
Yes. Playing the radio broadcast to customers through loudspeakers in the business is an act of public transmission separate from the royalty fee paid by the broadcasting organization and requires separate permission.
I only play foreign songs. Do I still have to pay?
Turkish professional associations can also represent foreign repertoire in Türkiye through mutual representation agreements with foreign associations. Which works are in the repertoire of which union must be documented by the union upon request.
If I use royalty-free music, will the problem go away?
If royalty-free music or music services licensed for businesses are used, where the rights holder has expressly permitted commercial use, the request of the professional association is unfounded for this use. License documents must be retained.
Can a fee be charged from a business that does not play music?
No. The payment obligation depends on the existence of public transmission. Requests made when music is not broadcast must be objected to with evidence showing this situation.
Is the risk of conviction realistic?
Crime is within the scope of mediation and in practice, a significant portion of the files result in licensing and reconciliation. However, the 2026 decision of the Supreme Court shows that the individual subscription defense does not prevent the occurrence of the crime.
Considering personal subscription sufficient: Individual digital music services do not include broadcast permission in commercial venues.
Leaving the warning unanswered: Silence accelerates the detection, lawsuit and criminal complaint processes; The opportunity for negotiation is lost.
Not checking the tariff calculation: Errors regarding square meters, capacity and business type can significantly increase the amount requested.
Thinking that a single union agreement covers all rights: Authors and related rights holders are represented by different unions; Rights outside the scope of the exclusive license protocol should be evaluated separately.
Not keeping license documents: A license that cannot be presented at the time of detection escalates the dispute.
Music broadcasting in businesses is a transmission to the public that requires legal permission, and the obligation to pay arises from the existence of this broadcast. On the other hand, it must be inspected in terms of the scope of the requested price, the authority of the union, the content of the determination and the correct application of the tariff. One-stop licensing and discounted tariffs brought by industry protocols should also be taken into account in this evaluation.
Küheylan Law Firm; It provides legal support to cafes, restaurants, hotels, hairdressers and retail businesses in determining the need for music licenses, reviewing notices and requests from professional associations, defense and conciliation negotiations in compensation cases and criminal investigations based on complaints.
Important Legal Notice: This guide has been prepared by Küheylan Law Firm for general information purposes and does not constitute a legal opinion. Since legislation and judicial precedents may vary, a file-specific legal evaluation must be made before deciding on concrete disputes. Person names and numbers in the case studies are representative.
KÜHEYLAN HUKUK