Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice denies compensation to Raul Seixas' daughter.

Counsel - By unanimous decision, the 2nd Civil Chamber of the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro denied the request for compensation for moral and material damages made by Scarlet Vaquer Seixas, daughter of Raul Seixas. In the appeal filed against the decision in favor of the companies Kika Seixas Produções Artísticas and Pão de Açúcar Empreendimentos Turísticos, the artist's heir, who lives in the USA, alleged improper use of "the name, image and work" of her father in the Morro da Urca Verão project, which took place in 2007. The judgment was delivered on November 6th.

According to Scarlet Seixas, the producer Kika (mother of her half-sister Vivian Costa Seixas) did not have her permission, nor that of Raul's first daughter, Simone Andrea Vannoy, to negotiate the contract for the show in question, which brought together several bands to play the artist's repertoire.

However, according to Judge Alexandre Freitas Câmara, rapporteur of the judgment, although the event occurred without the author's consent, it is indisputable that the amounts involved were paid as "licensing of the Baú do Raul brand," with 50% going to Kika Seixas Produções Artísticas and the other 50% to the heirs.

Regarding the misuse of the artist's image, he pointed out that the event flyer is the only evidence in the case file. However, he considered that, in this case, "the singer's image is intrinsically associated with the 'Baú do Raul' brand." Furthermore, since the use of the image was linked to the promotion of the show, he understood that "this functional link should not generate chain rights to compensation, under penalty of making any tribute to the artist impossible."

Regarding the performance of musical works, he pointed out that authorization is not directly required from the author or their heirs when it comes to public performance. In this sense, the judge cited the Copyright Law (Law 9.610/1998), which allows artists the option of assigning to Ecad (Central Office for Collection and Distribution) the task of representing them in the collection and distribution of copyright royalties. "Specifically in this case, it can be seen from the documents attached to the records (pages 142/143) that the amounts due were collected by Ecad, which—as already stated—is responsible for transferring them to the heirs," he described.

The Chamber concluded that "the mere absence of direct authorization from the author is not sufficient to give rise to the compensation for moral and material damages that was claimed in this case, since, as demonstrated, this is not the current system for the public performance of musical works."

The author was also ordered to pay attorney's fees set at 10% of the adjusted value of the main case, in favor of the company Pão de Açúcar Empreendimentos Turísticos.