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

In the 2009 Annual Report of ABRAMUS, Ms Gloria Braga, Superintendent of ECAD, attributes this progress to creativebusiness practices in relation to recovering debts, new contracts signed with music stores and movie theatre chains, as wellas the payment of monthly fees by users. The number of shows and events collected surpassed those of the previous yearby almost 10%, and new strategies were developed for the collection of sports events and users of new media. By improvingon the above strategies, ECAD successfully overcame the effects stemming from the default of the television broadcasters,making ECAD less dependent on them.The establishment of organisational units throughout Brazilian territory, led to record growth both in terms of collection unitsand new registrations of members. South African collecting associations should note that both new registration ofmembership and the establishment of collection units at local levels are signs of growth in Brazil. The lesson learned from theBrazilian approach is that decentralisation and inclusion of those on the periphery, both in terms of collections andmembership recruitment, are regarded as growth factors.Very important is the capacity-building in the form of optimising operational procedures of all units, resulting in thesimplification and standardisation of operations.The high cost of collections and the double administration charges resulting from the unusual two-tier system has beenmentioned on the down side of the copyright system resulting from the implementation of the legislation.Several significant music users do not yet pay for the use of music. This is exacerbated by the country’s lengthy legalprocesses. In 1996, 35% of the 4 000 radio stations did not pay. Also, the television stations Manchete, CNT, Record and thepublic education channel owed ECAD R$50 million.Critics of the associations have said that ECAD’s workings are not transparent, resulting in a number of legal disputesinvolving ECAD, the individual societies and the government. In its defence, ECAD has argued on its website that:The management system of ECAD and associations that comprise it cannot be considered a cartel. There is no cartel created by lawand ECAD was created by Law no. 5.988/73, having been held by the Law 9.610/98, precisely in order to centralise the collection anddistribution rights, uniting the amounts to be charged and the rules of distribution. Moreover, the activities of collecting and distributingroyalties are not economic in nature, since the music cannot be characterised as a commodity to be dictated by competition rules …(CNDA determined the unified price fixing - No cartel, 11/08/2011, http://www.ecad.org.br. 16/08/2011).In the past, some of ECAD’s members have also disputed the system of voting rights of the organisation.Brazil is in the midst of a copyright reform process. The protagonists of copyright reform argue that copyright is not, andshould not, be viewed only as a means for creating arts and remunerating artists. They argue that cultural diversity,education and innovation are, and should be, essential parts of a broader copyright policy. They argue further that theExecutive Power, Congress and the Judiciary should play a crucial role in a long-term, countrywide intellectual property andinnovation policy programme, and that cultural diversity, education, innovation and national development should be thecommon goal of all three tiers of government. (Paranagua, Pedro, 08/02/2011)- 122 -