Three composers attended a show at the Café Concert des Ambassadeurs. There they heard performances of a song written by one of them and a sketch written by the other two. After the performance, the three refused to pay their bill, telling the owner of the café: ‘You use the products of our labour without paying us for it. So there’s no reason why we should pay for your service’. The case went to court, and the composers won on appeal. The decision extended an existing law on theatrical performances to all musical works and all public performance of those works. This decision created a new category of legal right ― the performing right ― and with it a new economic relationship between music user and copyright owner.

As a result of the decision, these composers and others including music publishers founded a society to enforce and administer their performing rights. In doing so, they established the principle and practice of the collective administration of rights, based on the fact that ― with the possible exception of opera performances ― it was impossible for a single composer or publisher to monitor every use of his or her work by singers, bands, promoters or, in the twentieth century, broadcasters. _______, the new society was entrusted with the task of monitoring music use, issuing licences to music users, negotiating fees, collecting fees and finally distributing the money raised to the composers and songwriters whose works were adding value to other people’s businesses.