MOSCOW, April 28 - RAPSI. The Moscow District Federal Commercial Court will hear on May 16 the Russian Copyright Society's appeal against a judgment by the lower courts discharging the Melnitsa (Mill) concert agency from having to pay royalties to the society for the songs by the groups Muse and We Are Scientists performed by them during their Moscow concert.

On October 21 Moscow Commercial Court Judge Tatiana Vasilyeva sided with the agency and declared the license agreement between the society and the agency null and void. The agreement was signed just two days before the concert.

Melnitsa argued that at the time of signing it could not have predicted which songs the musicians would play at the concert. During the performance, the groups only played their own songs. Therefore, the agency should not have to pay the society any royalties, as the performers were paid for their work directly after the concert.

The judgment states that the agreement should be deemed invalid because its subject matter was not agreed upon.

Melnitsa's lawyer Anatoly Semyonov said that concert managers signed direct license contracts with both the bands and then paid them after the performance.

Founded in 1999, Melnitsa has arranged performances by ZZ Top, Placebo, Gogol Bordello, Merylin Manson, Iggy Pop and BB King.