Copyright Review Commission Report - ICT Law and Regulation ...

15.1.20. Local music content requirements should be raised for all broadcasters. See Table 26 (a), (b) and (c) of Chapter11.15.1.21. As part of the annual returns submitted to the Registrar, all collecting societies within the ambit of his or herjurisdiction should report the total and individual amounts paid to foreign entities via foreign collecting societies orthe agencies of foreign publishing houses as well as individual amounts collected from the foreign sources. Seeparagraph 10.12.3 of Chapter 10.15.1.22. The Copyright Act should be amended to provide that where the music usage information is not retained by thebackground music users, the collecting societies should commission an appropriate statistical sampling surveybased on the relevant users’ information to determine the appropriate split for the royalty distributions. Seeparagraph 10.12.4 of Chapter 10.15.2 OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS AS TO HOW THE POSITION OF MUSICIANS CAN BEIMPROVED15.2.1. There is a need for education as to the reasons for and the value of intellectual property, in particular copyrightand the performers’ neighbouring right. This is necessary to persuade members of the public as to the legitimacyof intellectual property law and to encourage them to respect it by not, for example, purchasing counterfeit CDsand DVDs or illegally downloading copyright material from the Internet. In order to do this, certain restrictions onthe use of copyright must be amended to create a balance between private and public rights.15.2.2. There is also a need for musicians to be educated as to the basic principles of copyright law so they can takesteps to protect themselves from having their rights infringed. See paragraph 12.4.8 of Chapter 12.15.2.3. Tertiary institutions that train musicians should be encouraged, or possibly even required, to introduce compulsorycourses on the basic principles of copyright law. See paragraph 12.4.7 of Chapter 12.15.2.4. Standard recording contracts that are fair to both sides should be drawn up as a matter of urgency, preferably byrepresentatives of the music industry and musicians, and made available to musicians, who should be urged touse them. They should be made available online and be referred to in educational courses for musicians as wellas information pamphlets distributed by the dti and the DAC. See paragraph 10.12.5 of Chapter 10.15.2.5. SAMRO’s practice of distributing unallocated revenues is unacceptable. Thorough and effective means of tracingthose persons entitled to the payment of royalties should be introduced, providing inter alia, for details of missingrights owners to be published on the Internet and in newspaper advertisements and newsletters to members ofSAMRO. The methods used in Australia by APRA, and summarised in the Simpson Report, should be followed.See paragraph 10.12.7 of Chapter 10.- 104 -