Asia-Pacific Committee Unites in Bangkok for Authors’ Rights
45 representatives from 21 authors’ societies descended upon Thailand for the three-day Asia-Pacific Committee meeting on 16-18 May. Organised in Bangkok, the meeting was the ideal occasion to assist to local member Music Copyright Thailand (MCT) in their efforts to lobby government officials to limit the number of collective management organisations (CMO) in the region in addition to organising a music creator panel to support the Fair Trade Music campaign.
See the photo gallery.
The first day opened with remarks by CISAC Asia-Pacific Committee Chairman and APRA International Director Scot Morris and a warm welcome by the Board Member of the hosting society MCT, Danai Huntrakul. Then CISAC Regional Director for Asia-Pacific Benjamin Ng provided an overview of the topics to be discussed. Ongoing regional issues including the broadcasting, satellite and cable licensing, and the value ratio/split between authors’ society and neighbouring rights society tariffs survey opened meeting discussions. CISAC Asia-Pacific Committee Vice-Chairman and JASRAC General Affairs Bureau Senior Administrator Satoshi Watanabe presented the results of the working group on multiple CMO relationships in Asia-Pacific. Cinema licensing was one of the key topics in this region. The committee worked on formulating strategic supports for societies where granting licenses for movie theatres have been difficult. Continuing his tour of regional committees to address upcoming reforms, CISAC Director of Business Standards and Rules Sylvain Piat gave the Asia-Pacific Committee details on the governance and membership reforms currently underway. The day ended with a discussion on regional cooperation on online music licensing.
The next day of the committee meeting devoted much of the agenda to the preparation of the setup of Asia-Pacific Music Creators Alliance (APMA), finalising details on the alliance’s charter and priorities. The APMA discussions were moderated by Satoshi Watanabe and Benjamin Ng with comments by CIAM Chairman Lorenzo Ferrero, JASRAC Executive Advisor and former President Shunichi Tokura, KOMCA President MyeongSun Yun, MCU Executive Director Austin Peng and MCT Board Member Danai Huntrakul, MOSCAP Executive Director Urjin Khurelbaatar, and VCPMC Director Pho Duc Phoung. These creators agreed to join a core group for the preparation of APMA. They also signed the alliance’s charter to demonstrate the support of CIAM and APMA activities. The APC meeting concluded by APC members providing individual updates on Asia-Pacific countries and territories.
With the two-day Asia-Pacific Committee meetings concluded, events shifted to the Asia-Pacific Creator Conference. Shining the spotlight on the Fair Trade Music initiative, the music creator forum was opened by remarks from CISAC Asia-Pacific Committee Chairman Scot Morris. The Department of Intellectual Property Ministry of Commerce of Thailand Director General Ms. Nuntawan Sakuntanaga showed support to the creators in Thailand and addressed a keynote speech at the event. Composer and CIAM Chairman Lorenzo Ferrero was joined by Shunichi Tokura and famous Thai composer Notapol Srichomkwan in a panel on Fair Trade Music, a campaign designed to transform music much as how “fair trade” transformed the value chain for agricultural products such as coffee. Participating creators reinforced the movement by providing their own reports and experiences shortly after. The conference continued with a presentation by Scot Morris and KOMCA Head of External Cooperation Bureau JongCheol Choi on best practices in copyright collective management. A panel on international practices in cinema and broadcast licensing including Scot Morris and CASH Deputy CEO Spencer Lee concluded the three days of events that put creators and their rights to the fore in Asia-Pacific.