Creative industry managers bemoan Blank Media Levy gaps

By Jimmy Chazama: Some creative industry executives on Monday lamented systems Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma) deploys in blank media disbursement. The managers said the systems were outdated. The remarks followed a meeting between Akometsi Limited Managing Director Kelvin Sulugwe, Kelvin Ngumuya of Madness Entertainment and George Nyale, among others. "We had a fruitful meeting. We engaged Cosoma [for us] to understand the system, identify weaknesses and determine the next course of action on behalf of rights holders," Sulugwe said. He added that the current Blank Media Levy royalties distribution was not based on digital consumption. "The current Blank Media Levy disbursement is still based on data from licensed burning centres rather than reflecting today's digital music consumption patterns," he said. Sulugwe said they observed during the meeting that, from about K3 billion collected this year, rights holders received about K1.44 billion after deductions. "The issue of rights holders effectively receiving about 48 percent of the total Blank Media Levy collected is one of the matters we will be reviewing further as we assess whether the current framework is fair and sustainable," he said. Sulugwe said the meeting also exposed a system error on 20 percent deduction shown on administration fee on royalty statements. "This amount is withholding tax, not an additional administration charge, and Cosoma admitted the error and has committed to fixing it," Sulugwe said. Cosoma Executive Director Dora Makwinja said they were open to engagement with players as regards royalties and the copyright body's operations. "We, as Cosoma, are always transparent in what we do. Creatives need to understand the processes. "For instance, the Malawi Revenue Authority collects Blank Media Levy on our behalf and, so, they also get a share for administration," Makwinja said. She said, apart from MRA, other parties that get a share include the government, Copyright Fund and rights holders. "Sixty [percent] is distributed to rights holders and 20 percent is what comes to Cosoma for the management and administration," Makwinja said. On withholding tax, Makwinja said it was a statutory requirement. Zeroing in on going digital, Makwinja said they had tried to do that but members rejected the idea during an annual general meeting. "There is a lot of misinformation out there because people speak from [a perspective of] lack of information or little knowledge about the whole issue. Perhaps we need to take an aggressive approach on raising awareness," she said. Blank Media Levy was introduced in 2011 to compensate artists for loss of income caused by piracy. The levy is collected on imported blank CDs, DVDs and other storage devices, with Cosoma mandated to distribute the funds. Over the years, artists have questioned the fairness of the system, saying it does not reflect changes in technology and music consumption.

WIRE — By Jimmy Chazama: Some creative industry executives on Monday lamented systems Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma) deploys in blank media disbursement. The managers said the systems were outdated. The remarks followed a meeting between Akometsi Limited Managing Director Kelvin Sulugwe, Kelvin Ngumuya of Madness Entertainment and George Nyale, among others. "We had a fruitful meeting. We engaged Cosoma [for us] to understand the system, identify weaknesses and determine the next course of action on behalf of rights holders," Sulugwe said. He added that the current Blank Media Levy royalties distribution was not based on digital consumption. "The current Blank Media Levy disbursement is still based on data from licensed burning centres rather than reflecting today's digital music consumption patterns," he said. Sulugwe said they observed during the meeting that, from about K3 billion collected this year, rights holders received about K1.44 billion after deductions. "The issue of rights holders effectively receiving about 48 percent of the total Blank Media Levy collected is one of the matters we will be reviewing further as we assess whether the current framework is fair and sustainable," he said. Sulugwe said the meeting also exposed a system error on 20 percent deduction shown on administration fee on royalty statements. "This amount is withholding tax, not an additional administration charge, and Cosoma admitted the error and has committed to fixing it," Sulugwe said. Cosoma Executive Director Dora Makwinja said they were open to engagement with players as regards royalties and the copyright body's operations. "We, as Cosoma, are always transparent in what we do. Creatives need to understand the processes. "For instance, the Malawi Revenue Authority collects Blank Media Levy on our behalf and, so, they also get a share for administration," Makwinja said. She said, apart from MRA, other parties that get a share include the government, Copyright Fund and rights holders. "Sixty [percent] is distributed to rights holders and 20 percent is what comes to Cosoma for the management and administration," Makwinja said. On withholding tax, Makwinja said it was a statutory requirement. Zeroing in on going digital, Makwinja said they had tried to do that but members rejected the idea during an annual general meeting. "There is a lot of misinformation out there because people speak from [a perspective of] lack of information or little knowledge about the whole issue. Perhaps we need to take an aggressive approach on raising awareness," she said. Blank Media Levy was introduced in 2011 to compensate artists for loss of income caused by piracy. The levy is collected on imported blank CDs, DVDs and other storage devices, with Cosoma mandated to distribute the funds. Over the years, artists have questioned the fairness of the system, saying it does not reflect changes in technology and music consumption.

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