COURTROOM battles over music download rights tend to be associated with chart stars and pop music, but the latest David and Goliath dispute has pitted a Scots former IT con- sultant against the world's biggest classical music group.
Keith Salmon has been ordered to permanently remove two classical recordings from his company's classical music website after a judge ruled there had been an infringement of copyright.
The firm behind the Naxos record label went to the Court of Session in Edinburgh claiming it owned the rights to a performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and a cathedral choir singing Handel's Joy to the World. It said the recordings, which were being sold as downloads, should not have been available on www.royalty-free-classical-music.org.
The disputed Four Seasons recording was also available through iTunes and Amazon, the court heard.
Mr Salmon, director of Project Management (Borders) Ltd, of Hawick, contested the action.
Hong Kong-based Naxos Rights International explained that another company, Pacific Music, had got the musicians together for a recording of the Vivaldi classic by a Slovak orchestra in Bratislava in 1987 and that the rights had been passed on to Naxos through a series of agreements.
The version of Joy to the World, recorded at Worcester Cathedral in September 1992 for inclusion in an album of Christmas music, was also Naxos's.
Mr Salmon, 65, insisted the Handel music came from a recording made in a studio in Keighley, Yorkshire, in October 1999 which he had arranged.
He also claimed he had travelled to Bulgaria in 1994 and had paid £3400 for a performance of Vivaldi. Mr Salmon, a lifelong classical music fan who began composing his own music in 1990 and set up his website after leaving the IT business in 2006, said he had been victimised by Naxos.
He said: "My little company was subject to an action from Naxos in the highest court in the land, where the legal fees are astronomical – clearly they were hoping that I would throw in the towel rather than contest it at all.
"I made just $2000 [£1250] from sales of these particular tracks, but my legal costs were £75,000 and when it came to the hearing I had to represent myself."
Mr Salmon said he had removed the disputed tracks from his website as soon as he was notified of the case against him just over a year ago, but his business, which stocks 12,000 classical recordings, was still running.
Lord Glennie's ruling also allows Naxos to sue for damages, although Mr Salmon hopes the award will be less than £2500.
He said: "As long as Naxos do not receive more than £2500 in damages, they are liable for everyone's legal costs, and since I only made $2000 from the sales of the recordings I can't see why the damages should be more than that."
Experts described the tests they had carried out on the disputed recordings, such as listening with super-sensitive equipment for background noises and individual variations in the performances.
Lord Glennie noted Mr Salmon had tampered with recordings he had made for the court action to make them seem different.
"These are not the actions of someone whose word cries out to be relied on," said the judge in his written ruling.
Lord Glennie ordered a stop to any infringement of copyright, handing over all the pirate copies of the music and a disclosure of details about sales and licences granted to others.
A spokesman for Naxos was unavailable for comment.
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