Africa-Press – Tanzania. DAR ES SALAAM: ARTS and cultural stakeholders have met in Dar es Salaam to discuss how to leverage new opportunities in the phonographic industry to reach full market potential. Over the course of two days, the stakeholders discussed challenges that cut across the phonographic industry and how they might overcome them.
The meeting was organised by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which began on Tuesday and ended on Wednesday.
The Deputy Minister for Culture, Arts and Sports, Hamis Mwinjuma, attended the two-day symposium, in which he highlighted copyright management as one of the challenges facing the phonographic industry.
He pointed out that seeing the challenge the government has made efforts to improve copyright management and ensure that artists are protected under this Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act No. 7 of 1999 law. He stressed efforts aimed at enabling more creative income through their works.
“The government, through the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Sports, is working to enhance the copyright management in ensuring that the artists protected by this law benefit from more creative income through their creations. “As you are aware, the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act No. 7 of 1999 was amended in June 2022 through the Finance Act, whereby duties and responsibilities of the Copyright Office were separated,” he noted.
To protect and promote the interests of copyright holders, the Copyright Office of Tanzania (COSOTA), the Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Sports established a Collective Management Organisation system in Tanzania Mainland to allow them to collect and distribute royalties.
A new source of revenue was introduced, the “Copyright Levy”. COSOTA, through the Tanzania Revenue Authority, has been collecting the copyright levy since September, 2023.
“We now have the Copyright Office as a regulator and the law allows the establishment of Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) whereas the CMOs have the authority to collect and distribute royalties.
“The law has also introduced the Copyright levy to benefit the rights holders in Tanzania Mainland. Between September 2023 and February 2024 collected 456,974,403/-. We are collecting the levy in collaboration with the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA),” he said.
Doreen Sinare, the Chief Executive Officer and Copyright Administrator, said the meeting was aimed to boost royalties collected by radio and television stations by ensuring each artistic work is paid in accordance with the agreement.
Doreen pointed out that this meeting will benefit music producers in the country as well as provide a platform for the exchange of copyright management experiences from different countries.
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