CISAC DG Gadi Oron meets with Moroccan Minister of Communications to support collective management of rights in the country

On 5 February, CISAC Director General Gadi Oron met with Morocco’s Minister of Communications and Spokesperson of the Government, Mr Mustapha Khalfi, to discuss the challenges faced by creators in the country and the ways that CISAC can further assist local authors' society Bureau Marocain du Droit d’Auteur (BMDA) to help grow royalty collections in the country.

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The Minister of Communications acknowledged the importance that the Government of Morocco places on supporting the local creative community and its desire to further enhance the operations of BMDA. He also noted the ongoing review of the copyright framework as well as the government’s recent decision to adopt a Private Copying Levies system, which will soon be implemented. He expressed his commitment to assist BMDA and invited CISAC to share its experience and expertise to facilitate this process. CISAC's Director General Gadi Oron informed the Minister that the organisation was ready to support BMDA with international co-operation, training, the sharing of operational best practices and the effective implementation of licensing solutions to drive royalty collections in Morocco.

Following his visit to the Minister, Mr Oron held a press conference in which representatives of the creative community and journalists heard a call for local authors and rights holders to support BMDA in its continued work and effort to improve royalty collections in the country. The press conference was widely reported on in the local press.

BMDA is currently the seventh largest authors’ society in Africa in terms of revenue collection.  With Morocco’s fast-developing economy, strong artistic repertoire and established broadcast media, it has the potential to become one of the continent's top authors' societies.