In a significant 20 October 2026 ruling from the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s Court of Appeal, the Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights (ECCO) has successfully overturned a prior dismissal of its copyright infringement lawsuit against event organizer Neon Briggs and the Attorney General of Dominica, sending the long-running dispute back to the High Court for further proceedings. The original claim stemmed from the 2024 PINKNIC Carnival fete, a public entertainment event hosted at the Roseau Botanical Gardens, a state-owned property, where no public performance licence had been secured from ECCO before multiple copyrighted soca tracks were played for attendees. The initial case had been thrown out by Master Cenac-Dantes on 20 December 2024, who ruled ECCO lacked sufficient legal standing to bring the infringement action, citing a prior judicial decision in the Mega-Plex case as precedent. A three-judge panel led by Chief Justice Margaret Price Findlay, alongside Justices of Appeal P. Nicola Byer and Acting Justice Gerard St C. Farara, unanimously disagreed with that earlier finding, ruling that the lower court official had improperly applied the Mega-Plex precedent, which never established a blanket ban on ECCO pursuing copyright enforcement actions across the region. The panel emphasized that disputed questions of copyright ownership and organizational standing could not be fairly resolved without a full trial, additional supporting evidence, and formal cross-examination of relevant witnesses. The ruling clarifies a critical nuance under Dominica’s 2003 Copyright Act: full assignment of specific standalone rights, including the public performance right, is legally permissible even when an organization does not hold full ownership of every copyright associated with a given musical work. The disputed tracks named in the original claim include popular regional hits such as *Bacchanal Rampage*, *Cho (Hot Head)*, *Balance Batty*, *Like It Like This/Like It Like That*, and *Bottle of Rum*. McCarthy Marie, ECCO’s local representative in Dominica, noted he had spent extensive time compiling all relevant assignment agreements and supporting documentation to verify ECCO’s legal ownership of the public performance rights for the listed works. “This ruling explicitly confirms that properly documented assignments of public performance rights create a solid legal basis to file infringement proceedings,” Marie stated. “We have always maintained ECCO is the legitimate legal owner of these public performance rights for the full catalogue of works named in our claim, and we now have clear legal standing to enforce those rights.” The case will now return to the High Court, where parties will either reach an out-of-court settlement or proceed toward a full trial. The Attorney General retains the right to advance a remaining argument that the original filed claim fails to state a valid cause of action against the Dominica government, though any hearing for that argument must be presided over by a different master or judge to avoid perceived bias. The Court of Appeal additionally ordered that ECCO be awarded full coverage of all legal costs incurred during the appeal process, with costs to be formally assessed if the two parties cannot reach a mutually agreeable sum within 21 days of the 2026 order date. Marie, who notes he has worked on no fewer than 64 prior copyright infringement cases across Dominica before this one, frames the ruling as a make-or-break milestone for the island nation’s fast-growing but still underdeveloped domestic music industry. He highlighted recent public comments from Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announcing government plans to launch a dedicated industry development body to support local creators, noting that robust, clear copyright enforcement will form a critical foundational pillar for that upcoming initiative. The ECCO representative emphasized that the ruling has direct tangible economic benefits for working local songwriters and music publishers: legally enforceable public performance royalties create a steady, reliable stream of income for creators, and the ability to issue formal licences and pursue unauthorised use of works gives local Caribbean music measurable, sustainable commercial value. “If we truly want to build a thriving, long-term music industry here, the artists who write and produce our local music must be able to earn a fair living when their work is used publicly,” Marie explained. “Widespread respect for copyright rules and consistent, reliable royalty collection are non-negotiable if we want to turn music creation into a stable, viable career for the many talented creators across Dominica.”