Artistes to reap big from Copyright Act amendment

Dar es Salaam. The minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports Dr Harrison Mwakyembe has promised to form a team, which will work on the amendment of the Copyright Act, before the end of the month.

The six-people committee will comprise three government officers from the ministry, Copyright Society of Tanzania (Cosota) and National Arts Council (Basata) plus three representatives from the music industry.

The team will work together with lawyers from the ministry to amend the Copyright Act. It promises a positive impact in the music industry.

The team is expected to see how the new Act will help musicians to get the payment of royalties from electronic media houses whenever they play their songs.

The Act is likely to spell a stern action against the media houses that contravene the law.

 “The government is committed to help the musicians get paid by the media houses and fight against defaulters/pirates. However, the laws and regulations were not harsh enough to benefit the artistes,” he said.

He said, the team will also propose the minimum amount, which artistes would be paid by the media houses playing their songs.

“I am so disappointed that we have been speaking about this issue for a very long time; I think enough is enough. I want the new Act to increase the penalty and if possible to ban the particular media which will go against the law,” he insisted.

According to him, the new Act will also help the artistes to access the market easily and remit revenue to the government.

Dr Mwakyembe said his ministry will also create a platform to provide capital to the musicians.