Music consumers such as pubs, clubs, mobile DJs, restaurants, and shopping malls have been cautioned by the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) to pay their fair share of royalties or risk legal action from the collection management organisation (CMO).
SAMRO is Africa’s leading CMO, responsible for collecting royalty fees and distributing them to around 20 000 authors, composers, and publishers. The announcement comes ahead of the South African Music Users (SAMU) workshop, which will be held at the Bolivia Lodge in Polokwane on November 25.
Compliance with the regulations governing the usage of protected music rights in South Africa, according to SAMRO CEO Mark Rosin, has to improve. He urged pubs, mobile DJs, clubs, restaurants, shopping malls, and other businesses to acquire the necessary licenses to play copyrighted music for the general public. Business owners in South Africa, according to Rosin, tend to regard such violations as small, with little to no consequences.
“If businesses are discovered to be non-compliant, SAMRO will take action against them,” he said.
Music users, according to SAMRO, must purchase usage licenses that allow them to play music publicly in their businesses or venues. Failure to do so, according to Rosin, is equal to stealing.
“It’s a difficult term to use,” he continued, “but this may be regarded as theft.” “The Copyright Act lays out the specifics of the music rights law. We don’t make the regulations. If you play music in front of a public audience that was not composed, created, performed, published, or recorded by you, you must obtain a license from the music creator. People are willing to pay for stock, and music must be considered part of the “stock” of a company that uses it.”
Apart from the fact that it is law, Rosin explained that music creators rely on adherence to these standards to collect royalties.
“You are helping to create a healthy music industry by ensuring that those who create music reap the benefits,” he stated. “Amounts eligible for distribution collected by SAMRO totalled US$ 25.8 million during the financial year ending June 2020.”
“These figures clearly show that we are making progress in maximising value for our members,” he continued. “However, we would like to see other businesses contribute their due share.”
