Charge in doubt
(China Daily)Updated: 2006-11-23 14:09 The Guangzhou Cultural and Entertainment Association announced early this week that it would not accept the 12-yuan (US$1.5) charge per day for each separate room in a karaoke bar two weeks after the State Copyright Bureau (SCB) published this standard charge.
Its counterparts in Beijing, Shanghai and Changsha also said they would boycott the charge.
As awareness of intellectual property rights has raised the necessity and obligation to pay for the commercial use of cultural products, no one challenges the consensus that karaoke bars should pay for the commercial use of compact discs and video clips.
The controversy is focused on who has the right to charge such fees, how much the karaoke bars should pay and how the collected money will be fairly distributed among rights holders.
In its announcement, the SCB said that the China Audio and Video Collective Management Association would charge such copyright fees on behalf of music creators and producers. But the association is yet to be registered as a legal organization. As a result, it has authorized another association to collect the charges on its behalf.
Karaoke bar associations in various localities have questioned the legality of such authorization, and also expressed doubts as to whether the association has represented the majority of music creators and producers.
In addition, the SCB announcement fails to explain on what ground the 12-yuan charge is based. If such a charge is imposed on karaoke bars nationwide, a considerable sum of money will be collected.
The SCB announcement fails to give a detailed explanation as to how the money will be distributed and whether there is a mechanism to supervise the management and distribution of this money.
If the SCB or its subordinate organizations have
conducted investigations before making decisions on the standard charge, the
investigation results should be published to prove that the charge is
reasonable. If it has already made detailed rules or established a mechanism to
scrutinize the distribution and use of the collected money, it should also make
it known to the public.
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