Musician royalty management system completes draft stage

Caption:  IPO Registrar Amelia Na’aru

By MATTHEW VARI

Sunday, November 29, 2015 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG)

REPONDING to queries of copyright infringements long suffered by local artists- Registrar for the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), Amelia Na’aru said that her office has completed drafting for the royalty management regulation.

Her comments were made during a recent Investment Promotion Authority Media and Stakeholder workshop hosted last week in Port Moresby.

When presenting on the role of the office in protecting the rights of intellectual property owners in the country, the issue of local musical artists has been a long standing issue in the country.

With lack of proper coordination and unity among many musicians in the country, the registrar highlighted as a major factor hindering the proper establishment of collective royalty systems.

“That has been an ongoing concern for musicians, many years back and it still continues to be I guess,” Ms Na’aru said.

“The office has drafted a collective royalties management system which is supposed to assist musicians form societies or associations to address the issues of collecting royalties collectively.”

“The royalty management regulations the office has completed drafting it and we get to have consultations with the musicians.”

She agreed that musicians were the most hit with copyright infringement issues and that her office was at the forefront of getting their issues sorted out.

“I do agree that the musicians have fought a long way and we are trying to do our best to assist.”

“I think one of the challenge we face with musicians is that no one seems to want to concede or agree with each other or work together.”

“That is one of the challenges we have faced with trying address this issue. Yes we are aware of their concerns and we are trying to address them.”