A group of 30 KTV clubs in Yunnan Province became the first in the
country to acquire copyright access licenses from the China Audio
and Video Collective Management Association on Sunday after paying
royalty fees.
The development marks the latest step in the occasionally
contentious effort to impose a royalty regime on the nation's
karaoke bars.
KTV operators can secure a copyright access license after paying
royalty fees to cover either a half-year or a year's operations.
The fees are levied according to a complex formula based on local
economic conditions.
The China Audio and Video Collective Management Association has
established unified bank account in Beijing into which all fees
collected are to be deposited. The agency's local offices issue
licenses to club owners within 10 days after the bank confirms the
receipt if the deposits.
"(The payments by the Yunnan operators) represent a big step
forward for music copyright protection in China," told Wang
Huapeng, the association's vice-president yesterday. "This brings
us closer to launching a nationwide copyright protection campaign
among all karaoke rooms."
More than 40 KTV operators in Yunnan, including the 30 new
licensees, have signed up for or paid royalties to the
association's Yunnan office, representing contracts worth 3.16
million yuan ($407,000).
Many KTV clubs in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Shaanxi,
Shandong and Yunnan provinces have made royalty payments since
February.
"Our roughly 20 local offices are not allowed to collect
royalties," Wang said. "They are only engaged in negotiating
between KTV operators and copyright owners, or in providing legal
services to clients when needed."
As a non-profit non-government organization, the China Audio and
Video Collective Management Association has the power to levy
royalties on behalf of music and video companies according to the
copyright law enacted in 1990 and revised in 2001, as well as the
Regulations on Copyright Collective Management from March 1,
2005.
(China Daily April 10, 2007)