Nine Years. No Contract. Lawyers in Ten Minutes.
In 2017, The Orchard, a distribution subsidiary of Sony Music, began collecting neighboring rights royalties on recordings by Australian band Tora. There was no contract authorizing the collection. There was no permission granted. The collection continued for nine years.
What Happened
Neighboring rights royalties are payments made to the owners of master recordings and performing artists when a sound recording is publicly performed or broadcast. They are separate from songwriter royalties and are collected by specialized organizations including SoundExchange in the United States and PPL in the United Kingdom.
In 2022, Tora discovered the unauthorized collection and sent a written stop notice to The Orchard. According to JPL, the band’s frontman, The Orchard acknowledged they lacked the right to collect but continued collecting anyway.
“No contract with us. Ever. No permission. Ever. Just quietly collecting. For almost nine years,” JPL stated publicly on April 21, 2026.
When the band sent The Orchard their own data showing collection had continued into 2025, the response was immediate.
“Lawyers CC’d in 10 minutes. Ten. Minutes,” JPL stated.
The band’s neighboring rights agency provided context on the broader pattern. “Our neighbouring rights agency confirmed they see this pattern constantly,” JPL stated. “The Orchard claiming rights they were never given.”
No Response
As of publication, The Orchard and Sony Music have not issued any public statement or response regarding the dispute. JPL issued a public seven day deadline to The Orchard on April 21, 2026. That deadline expires April 28, 2026.
What Independent Artists Can Do
Neighboring rights royalties require proactive registration to collect. Artists who own their masters can register directly with SoundExchange at soundexchange.com, PPL at ppluk.com, and equivalent organizations in other territories. Distribution agreements should be reviewed for any language granting neighboring rights collection authority to the distributor.
If a distributor has registered as the Sound Recording Copyright Owner without authorization, artists can contact the relevant collection societies directly to dispute the registration.
The Pattern
The Orchard is one of the largest music distributors in the world. It is owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The neighboring rights collection practices documented by Tora have not previously been reported in mainstream music industry publications.
The documentation is public. The sources are held and available upon request.
Room Reports is an independent publication covering the industries and systems that determine whether creators own what they make.