– music executive
Failure to rein in flagrant copyright transgression in Guyana has resulted in the impoverishment of the local music industry and the frustration of indigenous artistes, according to the head of one of the country’s leading recording studios.
Chief Executive Officer of Kross Kolor Records Burchmore Simon told Stabroek Business earlier this week that piracy affects the growth of the music industry in much the same way that it affects the development of the publishing sector. “Artistes, as much as writers and publishers, need a base from which to take off,” Simon said.
Asked to comment on the recent announcement by Head of the Presidential Secretariat regarding the purchasing by the Government of Guyana of pirated texts, Simon said that while illegal copying amounted to an infringement of existing laws, a point had now been reached where the country needed to remove from the position of debating the problem of piracy as it pertains to both books and music and do something to take the process forward.
In the case of the music industry, Simon said that he was aware of cases in the Caribbean in which radio stations and other institutions pay royalties for the use of music. He said that in both the music and book publishing industries mechanisms can be put in place that allow persons currently deemed to be pirates to sign agreements with publishers and recording studios that allow them to pay royalties for what, up until now, are infringements of the law.
Simon contends that there are probably many cases in which businesses involved in the pirating of books, DVDs and CDs have done well enough financially to begin to consider entering into legitimate business arrangements with copyright holders that enable both sides to benefit. “There may be cases in both [industries] where such arrangements can be arrived at that would allow everyone to benefit,” Simon said.
The music industry executive told Stabroek Business that while he understood that his proposal might not meet with the approval of some who might wish to exclude the current copyright transgressors from any future legitimate arrangement, he believed that his was a practical solution. Simon said that the full and effective implementation of such an arrangement would depend on the preparedness of the local music industry to work within an organization set up to protect its rights, including the collection of royalties and the amendment of the existing archaic copyright laws.
