The Executive Committee, the General Assembly and the Creators Seminar were held on 27-28 November in Macau.
Mr. Yan Ung, a creator and CEO/President of MACA reported at the Executive Committee meeting of 27 November that MACA successfully concluded a licensing contract with a local broadcaster after longtime negotiations and thanked APMA’s support through issuing support letters on multiple occasions.
APMA Exco members agreed to make their financial contributions to support APMA’s operation and activities. APMA Chairperson Shunichi Tokura made the annual activity report for the year 2018-2019 at the General Assembly on 28 November.
As commissioned by APMA, University of Hong Kong Professor Alice Lee presented her report of the study, the Copyright Buyout in the Music Industry in the Asia-Pacific at the Creators Seminar. It examined the 8 jurisdictions including Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
To encourage discussions on the improvement of the legal framework and practices, Professor Lee made 5 recommendations:
- Regulate unfair terms in copyright buyout contracts
- Grant creators the right to equitable remuneration,
- Require parties to a copyright buyout contact to include an option for the creator to revoke the contact in case of non-exploitation,
- For employee works and commissioned works: encourage fair and transparent dealings between parties,
- Organize public campaigns to increase public awareness of copyright issues. Her report is available here.
APMA commissioned Professor Lee to carry out additional study for the remaining jurisdictions in the region, namely, India, China, Chinese Taipei, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
There was a panel discussion on Sino-Lusophone copyright cooperation at the Creators Seminar. The expectation for Macau to be a hub for music and creative culture were expressed.
The participants of the APMA General Assembly and the Creators Seminar adopted the Macau Statement.