Feb 10 (Japan Today) - The Supreme Court on Friday ordered a hotel operator to pay public broadcaster NHK a subscription fee of about 6.2 million yen, upholding lower court rulings.
The operator of three hotels in Tokyo and Gunma Prefecture has not signed a subscription contract with NHK, also known as Japan Broadcasting Corp, and refused to subscribe, according to the ruling.
But the court ruled that the hotel operator is obligated to sign up with the broadcaster and pay the fee as long as it owns a television, a decision in line with the top court's ruling in December in a lawsuit filed against an individual that stated television owners in Japan are legally required to pay the subscription fee.
The hotel operator had installed a total of 279 television sets in its hotels by August 2013.
The ruling was the first against a company with no subscription contract with NHK and three similar lawsuits have been filed against companies, according to the broadcaster.
Source: ANNnewsCH
