Korea Music Copyright Affiliation (KOMCA), the most important music copyright administration group within the nation, plans to prioritize elevating copyright consciousness by means of lively promotion, reasonably than taking authorized motion in opposition to health club homeowners not compliant with the copyright music regulation.
KOMCA Chair Chu Ga-yeoul just lately visited 11 facilities throughout the nation accountable for gathering music copyright charges from gyms, gathering on-site complaints.
“Creating an setting the place copyright holders and customers can thrive collectively is essential. Enhancing copyright consciousness by means of communication, reasonably than authorized motion, must be our main focus. The affiliation will proceed to collaborate carefully with health club homeowners to ascertain a good system for gathering and distributing copyright charges,” stated Chu in a press launch on Wednesday.
KOMCA plans to implement measures to resolve copyright disputes and complaints from the health club trade.
Presently, of the roughly 15,500 registered gyms nationwide, solely about 7,800 have paid copyright charges at the least as soon as, indicating that barely greater than half are compliant with the copyright music regulation amended in 2018 that requires companies to pay copyright charges to KOMCA for utilizing copyrighted music.
KOMCA collects these charges primarily based on rules authorised by the Ministry of Tradition, Sports activities and Tourism.
KOMCA added that many health club homeowners are nonetheless not conscious of their obligation to pay copyright charges, resulting in the unauthorized use of music. “This not solely complicates the gathering and distribution of important copyright charges for creators but in addition ends in an rising variety of authorized disputes and complaints associated to copyright infringement.”
Lots of those that haven’t paid are small health club homeowners who usually run their companies alone and are unaware of their obligations.
“I received a name from the police saying that I used to be sued for taking part in copyrighted music in my health club with out paying a copyright price to KOMCA. In the long run, I needed to pay a positive for it. I didn’t know that I needed to pay the price on the day I opened my enterprise,” a health club proprietor wrote on an internet group website for small enterprise homeowners.
“A few week after I opened my health club in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, an official from KOMCA got here to my health club asking me to enroll to pay an everyday music copyright price if I needed to make use of copyrighted music,” stated one other health club proprietor on an internet discussion board for health club homeowners.
The overall ignorance of the regulation has led to authorized disputes between health club homeowners and KOMCA relating to copyright infringement.
The copyright music regulation states that those that run a health club larger than 50 sq. meters are topic to paying common music copyright charges.
In the event that they play copyrighted music with out doing so, they will face a five-year sentence or a positive of as much as 50 million received ($37,875).
To handle these points and promote a mutually useful relationship between copyright holders and customers, KOMCA is exploring reform initiatives.
“We’re at present discussing reform measures with the Ministry of Tradition, Sports activities and Tourism to alleviate the challenges health club homeowners face as a consequence of copyright legislation violations. We plan to instantly halt authorized actions, comparable to lawsuits, and prioritize proactive promotional actions aimed toward enhancing copyright consciousness,” stated KOMCA.
“Copyright charges are important for the livelihoods of creators. We look ahead to persevering with the dialogue to seek out sustainable paths that profit each the music and health industries,” stated Chu.