“Our satellite or IPTV subscription covers this.”
It covers signal access: the right to receive. It does not cover redistribution to cabins and public areas, which is a separate act under EU law requiring its own licences. This is not Clara’s interpretation: professional pay-TV providers state it in their own terms. Several place responsibility for collective-management licensing on the customer, not the provider. In the subscription agreements Clara has reviewed, an equivalent clause is standard; check yours.
“Our AV integrator handles the rights.”
Integrator contracts cover content supply and signal access. Read the rights clause: it will typically address delivery of the content to the vessel, not the vessel’s onward redistribution to cabins in each territory. The gap is structural: the integrator licenses what it sells you, not what you do with it afterwards. Clara works alongside integrators, not instead of them; the licensing layer is simply not in their contract.
“We only sail in one country.”
Then you have one territory’s obligations instead of several, not zero. The domestic CMOs’ rights apply to domestic redistribution. A single-territory position does simplify the licensing considerably, and the assessment will confirm exactly which licences apply.
“Our vessels fly a non-EU flag.”
A non-EU flag does not by itself remove the obligation. The rights are triggered territorially, where redistribution takes place within a jurisdiction, not by the vessel’s registration. A Bahamas-flagged vessel redistributing channels while sailing the Rhine engages the same obligations as a Dutch-flagged one.
“Our system is already licensed; it came with the licence.”
Crew-welfare content systems are licensed for crew areas. If the same head-end also feeds passenger cabins and public areas, that redistribution normally sits outside the system licence. This is the single most common gap on ferries: a genuine licence, covering the wrong audience.
“We already pay for music.”
Almost certainly true, and it stays in place. The home-country music licence typically covers musical works; coverage is verified during the assessment. It does not cover audiovisual works, neighbouring rights, or broadcaster signal rights, which are separate categories administered by separate organisations, territorially. The music licence is verified, not replaced, during the assessment.
“No one has ever asked us about this.”
Correct, and that is the current state of the sector, not evidence the obligation doesn’t exist. The rights holders’ collective organisations are aware of the maritime segment. Obligations accrue from the date redistribution begins, whether or not anyone has asked yet. The operators best positioned are those licensed before the question arrives.
“What does an assessment involve, and what does it cost?”
See How CLARA works. The intake conversation is thirty minutes and free. The full vessel assessment is a scoped, fixed-fee engagement quoted after intake.