<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>FURORE AT COMMERCIAL AFFAIRS DEPT</TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w>WHY MUST WE PAY & PAY? </TD></TR><TR><TD>KTV pub owners who pay up to $30,000 yearly to licensing agency now told to pay composers too </TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12w>August 16, 2008</TD><TD width=30>
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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12 vAlign=top align=left>THEY are singing a different song. <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]Karaoke-on-demand (KOD) suppliers, which help pubs install KTV systems, show licensing documents and CDs that Innoform had provided to them outside the Police Cantonment Complex in Outram, where they lodged a complaint at CAD. <!--<copyright>--><!--</copyright>-->[/SIZE][/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>No, not the patrons in karaoke lounges (KTV), but the parties tussling over music royalties.
For KTV operators, it's a song sung blue, as they have been told they must pay composers for the right to copy their compositions on to their karaoke-on-demand (KOD) systems.
Not fair, they cry. We are already paying for the rights to use these songs.
So upset were they that 40 pub operators and suppliers of KOD systems marched into the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) two days ago.
They wanted to lodge a complaint against Innoform Entertainment, a licensing agency which sold them the rights to copy 'music videos' into their KOD systems.
They had understood that the licence they bought from Innoform included the composer's rights, which they were now being asked to pay for.
The sheer number of complainants caused CAD to move them to an indoor basketball court in the Police Cantonment Complex before hearing their complaints.
The problem began when the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (Compass) sent a letter to about 300 KTV pub operators on 24Jul.
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</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]Mr Ronald Ng, 41 sales manager of KOD supplier Laser Techni, pointing at the stack of CDs he received from licensing agency Innoform which contained songs whose composers' copyright remains unpaid. --TNP pictures: CAI HAOXIANG[/SIZE][/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>'NO LEGAL PERMISSION'
It informed them that they did not have legal permission to copy the music and lyrics of composers into the KOD devices - computerised karaoke systems used by the KTV industry since 2003.
Compass wanted compensation of behalf of composers represented by four companies - Sony Music Publishing, Suwah Records, Touch Music Publishing and HIM International Music.
But the pub operators had assumed their annual payments to Innoform had covered composer royalties.
They were upset that the song CDs provided by Innoform had infringed the composers' rights and left them vulnerable to possible court action by Compass as a result.
Innoform collects $6,800 to $30,000 in annual KOD licence fees from each KTV operator, depending on their scale of operations.
The licence allows the operators to copy 'music videos' owned by 10 record companies, for which Innoform is the exclusive licensee.
They claimed that it is a common understanding in the karaoke industry that music and lyrics rights are included in the term 'music videos'.
One KOD supplier who wanted to remain anonymous, said it was like 'buying a 3-in-1 coffee only to find out later that you need to pay extra for the milk'.
Responding to the dispute, Innoform executive director Nancy Seah, 40, said Innoform had made it clear that their licence is limited to the rights owned by record companies over the visuals and sound recordings done by their artistes. (See report above.)
She said Innoform's contract with KTV operators mention that lyrics were not included in the 'music videos' sold by Innoform.
For example, the music for a song by Stefanie Sun might belong to a record company, but the lyrics might belong to a publishing company, she said.
Therefore, a KTV operator may need to pay different licensing agencies such as Compass and Innoform for the rights to a single song.
She said KTV operators should have understood that they need to pay for various rights or sought legal advice before setting up a KTV pub.
But most KTVoperators interviewed were unsure as to the number of rights they had to pay for, and felt misled by Innoform.
According to them, the CAD waslooking into the matter.
Mr Kelvin Lim, 29, who owns Raining Bar, said he was shocked Compass was asking for more money.
'We just want to know why we have to pay so much,' he said.
Annually, he pays $3,000 to Compass for music composition performance rights, $4,000 to Recording Industry Performance Singapore (RIPS) for music video performance rights and $7,000 a year to Innoform for reproduction rights for the KODsystem.
'NOT CLEAR'
Mr Lim Chong Ping, 36, managing director of Octopus Holdings, a F&B investment company that manages 70 outlets, said: 'There is no clear definition of who owns what type of rights, nor what the rights are that pub operators need to buy.
'Paying for these rights is fair, but an operator would rather pay a single party at a fair price instead of paying multiple parties at a price that is set arbitrarily.'
He said the average KTV pub uses 20 to 30 per cent of their profits on copyright fees.
Compass licensing manager Melvin Tan said composers' rights have to be taken care of and he had sent the letters to inform pub owners that there are rights they have yet to pay for.
He said there are scenarios where rights belong to different parties but 'Compass's role is specific to the composers'.
'Composers give birth to the song, they are its soul and spirit,' he said.
Mr Tan said Innoform also needed to pay Compass and that it had already approached Compass for talks.
He said he could not determine how much extra copyright dues Compass has to collect.
Initial estimates are $3 per song.
-- Cai Haoxiang, newsroom intern
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KTVs must deal with record companies, composers
THE dispute between KTV operators and Innoform arises from the double splitting ofrights.
A song is produced by both record companies and composers, and a KTV pub operator has to deal with performance and copying rights relating to both record companies and composers.
For example, an MTV song by Stefanie Sun may be written by Li Wei Song and Li Si Song, who will own the composer rights.
But the video aspect of the song may be registered under Sony BMG, the record company who did the music video and owns the rights to the artiste's image.
According to Compass licensing manager Melvin Tan, there are fourrights a KTV operator has to acknowledge.
The KTV operators in this case have been paying for the first three, but not the fourth.
The four rights are:
1. Right to do a public performance involving the video element of the KTV song (money collected by Recording Industry Performance Singapore on behalf of record companies.)
2. Right to copy the video element of the KTV song (money collected by Innoform on behalf of 10 record companies.)
3. Right to do a public performance involving the music and lyrics of the KTV song (collected by Compass on behalf of composers.)
4. Right to copy the music and lyrics of the KTV song (this is what Compass is trying to collect on behalf of composers.)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgVFM align=middle colSpan=2>View</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12 vAlign=top align=left>THEY are singing a different song. <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
For KTV operators, it's a song sung blue, as they have been told they must pay composers for the right to copy their compositions on to their karaoke-on-demand (KOD) systems.
Not fair, they cry. We are already paying for the rights to use these songs.
So upset were they that 40 pub operators and suppliers of KOD systems marched into the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) two days ago.
They wanted to lodge a complaint against Innoform Entertainment, a licensing agency which sold them the rights to copy 'music videos' into their KOD systems.
They had understood that the licence they bought from Innoform included the composer's rights, which they were now being asked to pay for.
The sheer number of complainants caused CAD to move them to an indoor basketball court in the Police Cantonment Complex before hearing their complaints.
The problem began when the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (Compass) sent a letter to about 300 KTV pub operators on 24Jul.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
It informed them that they did not have legal permission to copy the music and lyrics of composers into the KOD devices - computerised karaoke systems used by the KTV industry since 2003.
Compass wanted compensation of behalf of composers represented by four companies - Sony Music Publishing, Suwah Records, Touch Music Publishing and HIM International Music.
But the pub operators had assumed their annual payments to Innoform had covered composer royalties.
They were upset that the song CDs provided by Innoform had infringed the composers' rights and left them vulnerable to possible court action by Compass as a result.
Innoform collects $6,800 to $30,000 in annual KOD licence fees from each KTV operator, depending on their scale of operations.
The licence allows the operators to copy 'music videos' owned by 10 record companies, for which Innoform is the exclusive licensee.
They claimed that it is a common understanding in the karaoke industry that music and lyrics rights are included in the term 'music videos'.
One KOD supplier who wanted to remain anonymous, said it was like 'buying a 3-in-1 coffee only to find out later that you need to pay extra for the milk'.
Responding to the dispute, Innoform executive director Nancy Seah, 40, said Innoform had made it clear that their licence is limited to the rights owned by record companies over the visuals and sound recordings done by their artistes. (See report above.)
She said Innoform's contract with KTV operators mention that lyrics were not included in the 'music videos' sold by Innoform.
For example, the music for a song by Stefanie Sun might belong to a record company, but the lyrics might belong to a publishing company, she said.
Therefore, a KTV operator may need to pay different licensing agencies such as Compass and Innoform for the rights to a single song.
She said KTV operators should have understood that they need to pay for various rights or sought legal advice before setting up a KTV pub.
But most KTVoperators interviewed were unsure as to the number of rights they had to pay for, and felt misled by Innoform.
According to them, the CAD waslooking into the matter.
Mr Kelvin Lim, 29, who owns Raining Bar, said he was shocked Compass was asking for more money.
'We just want to know why we have to pay so much,' he said.
Annually, he pays $3,000 to Compass for music composition performance rights, $4,000 to Recording Industry Performance Singapore (RIPS) for music video performance rights and $7,000 a year to Innoform for reproduction rights for the KODsystem.
'NOT CLEAR'
Mr Lim Chong Ping, 36, managing director of Octopus Holdings, a F&B investment company that manages 70 outlets, said: 'There is no clear definition of who owns what type of rights, nor what the rights are that pub operators need to buy.
'Paying for these rights is fair, but an operator would rather pay a single party at a fair price instead of paying multiple parties at a price that is set arbitrarily.'
He said the average KTV pub uses 20 to 30 per cent of their profits on copyright fees.
Compass licensing manager Melvin Tan said composers' rights have to be taken care of and he had sent the letters to inform pub owners that there are rights they have yet to pay for.
He said there are scenarios where rights belong to different parties but 'Compass's role is specific to the composers'.
'Composers give birth to the song, they are its soul and spirit,' he said.
Mr Tan said Innoform also needed to pay Compass and that it had already approached Compass for talks.
He said he could not determine how much extra copyright dues Compass has to collect.
Initial estimates are $3 per song.
-- Cai Haoxiang, newsroom intern
<HR width="90%" SIZE=1>
KTVs must deal with record companies, composers
THE dispute between KTV operators and Innoform arises from the double splitting ofrights.
A song is produced by both record companies and composers, and a KTV pub operator has to deal with performance and copying rights relating to both record companies and composers.
For example, an MTV song by Stefanie Sun may be written by Li Wei Song and Li Si Song, who will own the composer rights.
But the video aspect of the song may be registered under Sony BMG, the record company who did the music video and owns the rights to the artiste's image.
According to Compass licensing manager Melvin Tan, there are fourrights a KTV operator has to acknowledge.
The KTV operators in this case have been paying for the first three, but not the fourth.
The four rights are:
1. Right to do a public performance involving the video element of the KTV song (money collected by Recording Industry Performance Singapore on behalf of record companies.)
2. Right to copy the video element of the KTV song (money collected by Innoform on behalf of 10 record companies.)
3. Right to do a public performance involving the music and lyrics of the KTV song (collected by Compass on behalf of composers.)
4. Right to copy the music and lyrics of the KTV song (this is what Compass is trying to collect on behalf of composers.)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgVFM align=middle colSpan=2>View</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
