Court limits music teacher's piano playing time after noise complaint

A court in Shanghai has ruled that a music teacher should limit his piano playing to no more than three hours per day after a neighbor complained about the noise.

According to the Shanghai Qingpu District People's Court, the noise dispute between the musical teacher and the neighbor dates back to March 2020. At one point, the teacher played the piano for over 10 hours a day for more than a month, disrupting the neighbor's daily life and rest.

The neighbor claimed that the teacher sometimes played the piano from 11 pm until 1 am, severely affecting their family and other neighbors' sleep.

In his defense, the music teacher argued that he needed to practice the piano for his online teaching. He also mentioned that other residents in the neighborhood also play the piano, making it difficult to prove that his piano playing was the sole cause of the disturbance.

The neighbor presented evidence to the court, including recordings and witness testimonies, to prove that the teacher indeed played the piano excessively and disrupted the lives of nearby residents.

The court dismissed the teacher's argument about the necessity of playing the piano for work. The court stated that the teacher should take effective measures to reduce the noise, rather than expecting his neighbors to tolerate the disturbance.

Based on the living habits of the residents, the court ruled that the teacher is not allowed to play the piano before 9 am, after 7 pm, or from 1 pm to 2 pm. The daily duration of piano playing should not exceed three hours.

The court emphasized that the determination of noise disturbance should not solely rely on the legal limits of the noise, which stipulate that noise should not exceed 55 decibels during the daytime (6 am to 10 pm) and 45 decibels during the nighttime in residential areas.

Actions that disrupt others' normal life, work, and study and fail to take appropriate noise reduction measures can still be considered as noise disturbance. The court should comprehensively consider evidence such as recordings and testimonies from neighborhood committees to make a fair judgment.