Govt must ensure artistes earn income through royalties, says minister

Domestic trade and cost of living minister Armizan Mohd Ali addressing the crowd at the Ramadan gathering with veteran artistes last night.

KUALA LUMPUR: Domestic trade and cost of living minister Armizan Mohd Ali has pledged that the government will take every effort to ensure that artistes are properly rewarded for their creative works.

“Work and talent are the assets of our artistes and the source of their income.

“Our responsibility is to ensure that all artistes enjoy the fruits of their efforts, not just during their careers but also for so long as their works are enjoyed by users,” he said when attending a Ramadan gathering with veteran artistes yesterday.

The artistes, many of whom are struggling financially, received handouts of RM1,000 each in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri next month.

Also present were Malaysian Artistes’ Association (Karyawan) president Freddie Fernandez and FMT managing director Azeem Abu Bakar.

Armizan said the artistes’s intellectual property in their works is protected by the Copyright Act 1987 which allows them to derive an income through royalty payments.

He said that his ministry has over the years through the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) established nine collective management organisations (CMOs) to administer the collection and distribution of royalties to copyright owners in respect of their works.

Seven of those CMOs are still in existence, he said, and are presently up for renewal.

“We are aware that these CMOs suffer from ‘governance’ issues in the sense that royalties are collected but have not been distributed to those who are entitled to receive payments.

“Because the CMO renewal process is ongoing, we are in a position to review the relevant documentation and issues that have arisen in respect of each one of them,” said Armizan.

The minister also noted calls for a single body to be set up solely to deal with the collection and distribution of royalties.

“However, MyIPO is presently not empowered to do so, nor is it empowered to set tariff rates for CMOs.

“Even so, I do not think we (the ministry) should remain silent. Although CMOs were established in 2012, the fact remains that our talents are still facing this issue, so we must do something about it.”

Armizan was speaking after Fernandez issued a plea for Putrajaya to resolve the long-running royalty issue plaguing content creators in the local music industry.

The Karyawan president said artistes have not been receiving royalty payments which they are entitled to in respect of their works.

Fernandez proposed the setting up of a committee, headed by Armizan and comprising only composers and artistes, to resolve the issue once and for all.