The Executive Committee meeting was held at Pullman Jakarta Indonesia on November 13, 2018.
The Executive Committee was informed of the new EU Directive development for fair remuneration for creators online, regarding online content sharing service providers in particular, and shared the discussions summary of the CIAM Congress held in Mexico City on November 5 and 6, 2018.
Professor Alice Lee, commissioned by APMA for the research of the Copyright Buyout practices in the Asia-Pacific region, informed in a video message that she would make the final report in May 2019.
An APMA Exco member Thanit Chernpipat reported that buyouts are still rampant practices in Thailand. As a recent example, a songwriter who performed his own songs was sued by the company which bought out his copyrights for the songs and he was arrested for the copyright infringement. A lawyer defending the songwriter spread the issue in the news media as well as the social media. The company was exposed to criticism of the public and withdrew its legal action against him. His buyout deal was changed to credit him with the writer share for the performances of his songs in the future. T. Chernpipat mentioned that this was a good example of the successful media campaign but it is only the tip of iceberg of buyouts.
The Executive Committee also discussed the way of financing the expenses of the APMA activities. The next APMA Executive Committee meeting will be held in Tokyo on May 29, 2019.
The APMA 2nd General Assembly and the Creators Seminar were held at Upper room Jakarta on November 14, 2018. The APMA Chairman Shunichi Tokura reported the past year activities and introduced the new APMA affiliated creators from India and Myanmar on the stage in the General Assembly.
At the Creators Seminar, there were two panel discussions; “the Copyright Buyout” and “Transfer of Value.”
The panelists of music creators from Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea and Thailand on the panel of the Copyright Buyout discussed the practices in their countries and shared the importance to stop them and find solutions.
The panelists from Europe and Asia pay attention to the development of the new EU Copyright Directive and shared the current ISP’s safe harbor legislation in the Asia-Pacific countries. They discussed the copyright clearance liabilities of the online content sharing service providers to ensure fair remuneration for creators.
In the presence of many music creators from the Asia-Pacific at the Creators Seminar, the APMA Chairman Shunichi Tokura announced the Jakarta Statement calling for the general public’s attention to the buyout issue in the region.
The Jakarta Statement
Asia-Pacific Music Creators Alliance (APMA) has gathered music creators from around the region in Jakarta* to examine the impact of Copyright buyout practice in the creative community. Copyright buyout activity, rather than diminishing, has been on the increase, being unfairly exploited in areas such as digital audiovisual content and games.
Although authors’ exclusive rights are recognized under many and varied International Copyright treaties, creators are at a distinct commercial disadvantage when bargaining with production companies and other powerful industry practitioners.
Copyright buyout practice undermines music creators’ valuable contribution to society and the economy. APMA would like to draw the
general public’s attention to this nefarious practice. Such unfair industry practice should be eliminated to guarantee a healthy, and fairly remunerative, future for our creators.
*In Indonesia, “termination right” exists in Section 18 of the Indonesian Copyright Law 28/2014. It stipulates that the copyright goes back to the creator when the copyright transfer agreement reaches a period of 25 years. However, copyright buyout is still rampant in advertising industry. The brand and/or agency usually asserts unfair buyout condition into the agreement. Music creators are unfairly remunerated and may even lose their authorship.
Message from Eddie Schwartz, President, International Council of Music Creators:
“Music creators the world over face increasingly perilous times, and unethical business practices. The overwhelming pressure large media companies can exert on individual creators to give up all rights to their music, particularly when it comes to movies, TV shows and games, is an example of the unfair and exploitive practices that are destroying our ability to make a sustainable living from the use of our work.
CIAM welcomes APMA’s Jakarta Statement, joins with our brother and sister creators in the Asia-Pacific region in decrying this coercive practice, and in doing all we can to bring it to an end.”