Learning that the Ministry of Culture began to charge KTV copyright fees as of this month, Guangzhou karaoke operators, worrying about being ordered to pay these fees, expressed their stance: if there is no reasonable usage and standard, then we will pay no fees, reported the Information Times yesterday.
Six months earlier the National Copyright Administration (NCA) started collecting KTV copyright fees across the country, but up to date two thirds of Guangzhou's Karaoke clubs have refused to pay the fees because they question their validity.
The Cultural Market Development Center under the Ministry of Culture is launching a "national karaoke management and service syste" in seven provinces and an autonomous region, under which the copyright fees shall be collected according to the number of songs: it charges a daily rate of 4 yuan for 25 songs in each private room and an extra 0.12 yuan for each song in excess of 25 songs. It is estimated that this system will be gradually implemented across the whole country.
"The NCA already may collect 3 billion yuan per year in Guangzhou alone under the daily rate of 12 yuan for each private room. Now here comes another charge from the Ministry of Culture," grumbled several big karaoke operators yesterday as they expressed their discontent. The businessmen assert that this is a repetitive charge.
They claimed that competition between karaoke clubs has become very fierce, generating less profits than previously. Therefore they cannot stand additional, repetitive charges to pay fees from various government departments. "Inevitably these fees shall be transferred to the consumers by price hikes. If we do this how many people would like to come to sing at our establishments?"
Some karaoke operators said that they would not violate the law by refusing to pay the copyright fees. But they need to know why they should pay them in the first place. "At least we should be told which department is collecting these fees and how the rate of the fees is set and how these fees will be used," they all said.
Industry insiders revealed that since Guangzhou has been disputing and opposing the copyright fees levied by the NCA, the Ministry of Culture has not listed it as a trial city.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Ming'ai, December 7, 2007)
