A REPORT released by the Jamaica Association of Composers Authors, Composers and Publishers (JACAP) indicate that several media houses are now before the Supreme Court, facing charges of breaches of the copyright laws.
Steve Etienne, General manager of ECCO has taken note of the situation in Jamaica. He says however that litigation is always a long drawn out and expensive process and is always seen as a last resort. He however, agreed that users of music must respect the rights of the creators and due compensation in the form of licences and royalties must be remitted to the various collection agencies operating in the region.
ECCO Inc. (the Eastern Caribbean Collective Organization for Music Rights) a not for profit organization is a society of writers and publishers of music. Through reciprocal agreements with collective management organizations throughout the world (also called ‘societies’), ECCO represents and can license virtually the whole worldwide repertoire of copyright music for public performance, broadcast, cable transmission, online and mobile use in the OECS. Additionally, ECCO will licence mechanical reproduction and synchronization rights on behalf of writer and publisher members.
According to Etienne over the years broadcasters in Saint Lucia by and large have become more compliant when it comes to paying licenses. “We have done a fairly good job first with HMS and now with ECCO, at sensitizing our broadcasters and the general public about the rights of the composers and writers,” he says.
“However, the reality is that as it stands now, our surplus for distribution for members is diminished the more legal action we take against infringers. Therefore, it is never something we like to do as members expect their royalty cheques to be meaningful. Instead, we implore persons to comply with the law and to sit and discuss with us, if there are any issues,” he adds.
As the representative agency for some of the OECS islands (including Dominica, Grenada, St. Vincent, Antigua, St. Kitts and Saint Lucia) Etienne admits that ECCO does have challenges in some of the islands. “You find that these islands which do not have the presence of a collection agency like ECCO, representing copyright owners, are less inclined to comply. So again, we have to go in sensitize, discuss and of course, when all else fails we must take legal action on behalf of our members,” he stressed.
Here in Saint Lucia where there are now more than 25 radio and television broadcasters, Etienne says, new threats and challenges have arisen. “What we see happening in Saint Lucia is that while there are more broadcasting stations and more music being played (members hear more of their music), the value of music, so to speak, has diminished. This is because there is now a race to the bottom by those stations that have to slash advertising rates in order to survive. So instead of our collections increasing from broadcasters, it has remained at basically the same level as it was ten years ago,” Etienne says.
In light of these challenges, his advices music creators is to seek additional revenue streams and platforms for their music, besides mere airplay. He also believes that the creators should also always endeavour to create music that can be played and or performed anywhere in the world. Additionally, members of the organization (ECCO) must become more aware of the issues in their various territories surrounding copyright and let their voices be heard when it comes to creation of a sound environment within which to operate, by the powers that be. This would include the proper legal and legislative framework effectively enforced as well as the facilitation of a creative industry through public/private sector partnership.
“Having the support of the broadcasters, although essential, is only a small part of it,” Etienne states..