Australia's fitness sector has been dealt a blow after the Copyright Tribunal decided to increase copyright fees for use of music in group exercise classes.

The verdict, delivered on 17 May, comes after a long battle with the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA), the body representing major record labels, which had requested a 4,000 per cent increase in fees.

The current PPCA licence fee is 96.8 cents per fitness class, with a capped annual maximum of AUS$2,654.

This has now been increased to either AUS$15 per class or AUS$1 per participant - a hike of 1,500 per cent in the cost of a PPCA licence for a typical fitness centre.

Fitness Australia, the national trade body, has criticised the move, which could see facilities paying more than AU$23,000 (£13,200) a year.

However, as Fitness Australia CEO Lauretta Stace explains: "The fitness industry has access to high quality alternative music that gym-goers are perfectly happy with and that's not part of the PPCA repertoire."