Here’s another example of “Bah Humbug” in Germany, but this time it’s not because of political correctness or Islam. It’s simple bureaucratic overreach by state agencies on behalf of entities that profit from the copyright on a Christmas musical ditty.

Many thanks to Hellequin GB for translating this article from the online news portal Nius:

Cookie trouble in North Rhine-Westphalia: Kindergartens are no longer allowed to sing “In the Christmas Bakery”

“There are lots of goodies in the Christmas bakery…” These are the words that begin the popular song by Rolf Zuckowski from 1987, which many people probably remember from their own childhood. Otto Waalkes sang it, and many others, too. To this day it is a hit in many kindergartens at Christmas time.

The popular Christmas song is now flying off the song list in two North Rhine-Westphalian daycare centers. But not because it’s suddenly too Christian. The bureaucracy is to blame, or rather — GEMA.

GEMA stands for “Society for Musical Performance and Mechanical Reproduction Rights”. And this GEMA puts a stop to the daycare hit: If the song is rehearsed and sung in front of the parents, this is considered a public performance and the kindergarten has to pay fees. This is what RTL reports. GEMA charges €150 for a public performance. That’s why a daycare center in Münsterland and one in Recke, near the Lower Saxony border, have decided to no longer perform songs that are subject to GEMA.

The CEO of one of the affected daycare centers, Björn Schmitz, explained in an interview with RTL: “It’s not about the amount of the fee, but rather the bureaucratic effort behind it.”

“I would have to pre-register every song we sing”

A piece only becomes officially license-free 70 years after the composer’s death; before that, public performance of the song incurs license fees, which GEMA collects on behalf of the rights-holders. To register via the GEMA online portal, you must specify exactly how long the celebration lasts, how large the area or room is in which the celebration takes place and how many minutes of it will be without music. “I would have to register every song we sing in advance,” explains daycare director Mechthild Ahrens in an interview with RTL. It is not possible to spontaneously start or play a song.

NRW does not have a framework agreement with GEMA

The problem with daycare centers in North Rhine-Westphalia is that this federal state, unlike others, does not have its own framework agreement with GEMA. That’s why every daycare center has to sign a contract itself and pay the fees — or simply forego certain songs. Each song must be registered individually; spontaneous singing performances are not possible. There is also another bureaucratic burden: the facilities have to specify how long the celebration lasts, how large the rooms are and how long music will be played.

Afterword from the translator:

This alone shows you all over again that bureaucrats are not human; they are ‘things” from the bilges of Hell, beings that can’t hack it in real life because they have absolutely NO IMAGINATION or JOY, just like the puppeticians they serve so willingly. I’m pretty sure that these bureaucrats are really proud that they can singlehandedly destroy a child’s joy through “rules and regulations”. After all, we saw it during the last Plandemic with how much excessive glee they destroyed young minds. Bureaucrats should be shunned and outcast by society, let those miserable sots reap what they so happily sow — unhappiness. We are definitely in need of another IVERMECTIN to combat this parasitical infestation called bureaucracy in our respective countries, that’s for sure.