Music company wrongfully fined for management of musician’s social media fan page Summary Decision of the Court of Appeal The Facebook fan page of a musician was controlled by The Court of Appeal annulled the decision of the DPA, a music company through a contractual relationship. including the fine of 10,000 EUR. After termination of the management agreement, the musician wanted to reclaim control over the fan page. Our remarks The Belgian Data Protection Authority (DPA) issued an • The rights contained in the GDPR are considered order for the music company to transfer the page on fundamental for data subjects. However, these the basis of data portability. The case was brought rights must always be balanced with other rights, before the Court of Appeal who annulled the DPA’s such as intellectual property rights. In cases, such decision. as the present, where the personal data processing is limited in scope, the data controller’s legitimate The DPA revisited the case and issued a second interests may outweigh those of the data subject, decision, fining the music company 10,000 EUR for particularly when those are necessary for the not transferring the fan page after the musician had exercise of their intellectual property rights. exercised their rights to data portability and objection. The fine was imposed because the music company • This case illuminates the nuanced interplay was found to have used the artist’s name without their between GDPR provisions and pre-existing consent after the termination of the management contractual commitments. When establishing contract. contracts, especially those involving personal data and associated digital assets, clarity is paramount. The music company appealed the second decision, The dispute emphasizes the need to proactively arguing that their right to manage the Facebook page align GDPR-compliant practices with the specific was not based on the management agreement. Rather, terms of contractual agreements. In essence, it was based on the company’s exclusive license to ensuring that GDPR guidelines are embedded market and commercialize the artist’s music, which was within contracts, while respecting the essence of derived from various agreements with the artist and a existing rights and obligations, can be a critical step music producer. in mitigating such conflicts. The music company argued that the termination of the management agreement did not affect their rights to the Facebook fan page, and that it had a legitimate interest to control the page based on their intellectual property rights to the artist’s music. The second decision was once again brought before the Court of Appeal which annulled the decision, referencing an agreement which confirmed that the music company had exclusive rights to the commercial use of the artist’s name and image for a specified period of time. Published: 12-01-2021 Journal number: DOS-2020-01192 Tags: 01 Legal basis and principles of processing 91