The 1st APMA Executive Committee meeting and the “2017 Creators Seminar in Seoul” were held on May 11th and 12th, 2017 respectively, in the capital city of South Korea. The APMA ExCo members, Korean music creators, music users, government officials, academics and others participated in the well-attended seminar.
The APMA ExCo has identified various issues which currently disadvantage music creators in the Asia-Pacific as well as around the world. In particular, copyright “buyout” practices and the issue of “transfer of value” related to safe harbor legislation around the world were identified as key issues requiring immediate action, prompting the APMA ExCo to move to issue the Seoul Declaration (PDF Version).
At the seminar, APMA Chairman Shunichi Tokura and APMA ExCo member/KOMCA Chairman Yoon Myoungsun read out the Seoul Declaration in English and Korean, and received a loud consenting applause from the audience.
The Seoul Declaration is envisaged as a powerful voice to encourage governments, policy makers and lawmakers in the region to address these issues in their respective territories.
The seminar also served as an occasion for Mr. Yoon Myoungsun to announce APMA’s presentation of five laptop computers each to developing authors societies in the region; MOSCAP in Mongolia, VCPMC in Vietnam and WAMI in Indonesia.
The Seoul Declaration
The Asia-Pacific Music Creators Alliance:* (APMA) gathered music creators together in Seoul to call for respect for music creation and stronger protection to preserve our culture and values.
While it is the best time for audiences to enjoy music on many innovative platforms, in order to ensure the sustainability of music creation, it is imperative that some important issues be addressed.
While it is encouraging to see that the demand for music is booming in the digital age, the efforts of music creators are not recognized accordingly, reflected by the fact that they are not remunerated fairly. Technology is developing by the minute. There has been revolutionary transformation in the way that music is being consumed. However, the copyright protection regime for creators has not caught up with these changes.
The problem of copyright “buyout” is a particularly serious problem in Asia Pacific. Many music creators, reluctantly, assign the copyright in the musical works they have created in exchange for a lump sum. This unfair phenomenon should be prevented. Stop the unreasonable exploitation of music creators! Their efforts should be fairly remunerated.
Many countries in Asia-Pacific still provide only 50 years plus life protection for music creators. The protection term should be extended to at least 70 years plus life so that it can meet the international standard.
We call on governments, policy makers and lawmakers to improve the current copyright protection legislative regime, such as fixing copyright “buyout” problem, extending copyright protection term to at least 70 years plus life, and avoiding abuse of “safe harbour” regime.
(*The Asia-Pacific Music Creators Alliance comprises music creator organizations and individuals in 15 countries and regions: Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.)