Karaoke (KTV) bar owners in China have seemingly boycotted a new
national royalty payment scheme, branding it "illegal and
unreasonable."
China's National Copyright Administration (NCA) 9 unveiled a
scheme on November by which karaoke bars have to pay 12 yuan
(US$1.5) a day in royalties to music artists for each room on their
premises.
The NCA said copyright owners had designated an association for
the collective management of audio and video copyrights to collect
royalties on their behalf.
However, as this plan awaits official approval by the
government, the China Audio and Video Association (CAVA) has been
designated as an interim agent to collect royalties.
In China's southern city of Guangzhou, the Guangzhou Cultural
and Entertainment Industry Association said the agent has no
government approval and that paying royalties according to the
number of KTV rooms is unreasonable.?
"As the association has no approval, it has no right to collect
royalties, and a non-existent 'right' can not be transferred to the
CAVA," said Huang Shiqiu, chairman of the Guangzhou-based
association. KTV owners could be paying for songs that haven't been
used under this standard.
A copyright fee based on individual song popularity is believed
to be more reasonable. Huang said the boycott was organized after
lengthy discussion among bar owners. He added that 12 yuan per room
is too high for KTV owners.
Wang Huapeng, a leading official in charge of instituting the
copyright management association, said he knew of protests from
Guangzhou.
Wang said 12 yuan per room was the ceiling, and the association
was working on a detailed variance scheme according to local
economic conditions.
He declined to comment on his association's qualifications to
collect the fees, saying, "The bars can stop using our copyrighted
songs if they refuse to accept the scheme."
A staff member with the NCA said KTV owners and the national
association should collaborate on a detailed scheme.
"Different opinions, reflecting the growing number of people
concerned about royalty collection, are good for copyright
protection," he said.
Zhu Nan, vice-chairman with the Shanghai Cultural and
Entertainment Industry Association also questioned the copyright
management's qualifications to collect the money.
"We won't pay any fees until the legal problems are solved," Zhu
said.
However, he said Shanghai's KTV owners would accept the charging
method, if the price was reasonable, for example, "one yuan per
room per day."
Huang and Zhu both said the entertainment associations would, on
behalf of the KTV owners, take legal action against the copyright
management association or CAVA if they insisted on collecting the
royalties.
In Beijing, another pilot city, bar owners did not share their
brethren's anxieties.
Wang Yefei, vice-director of Beijing Municipal Copyright
Administration said on Wednesday that a detailed scheme in Beijing
was still on the drawing board.
However, Wang said, the prices were definitely lower than the
upper limit of 12 yuan, and were sub-divided into three different
levels according to operating conditions.
"We will listen to the KTV owners when working on the detailed
scheme," Wang said, adding proposals would be issued early next
year.
"It's strange for the KTV owners in Guangzhou and Shanghai to
act in that way as they can still negotiate with the copyright
management association about the detailed scheme," he added.
The royalties will first be collected in Beijing, Shanghai and
Guangzhou on a trial basis. The practice will gradually extend to
other cities, with the payment rate varying according to economic
conditions.
A special team will be established before the end of the year to
ensure fee collection.
(Xinhua News Agency November 23, 2006)