FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Music copyright drama strikes strident notes

Music copyright drama strikes strident notes

It has been called “music copyright drama” on the timelines after a coffee-shop owner in Phrae posted a warning to others, saying he had to pay Bt20,000 for playing songs via YouTube in his shop when representatives of entertainment company GMM Grammy sho

Thai social media users discussed whether he had violated the law.
While the company’s executive confirmed that it was illegal, Tanai Koojai, a Facebook fanpage about legal issues, quoted a Supreme Court verdict in a previous case, arguing the shop owner did not violate copyright as the shop did not charge customers for listening to the songs.
However, legal expert @PaiboonA, in his media interview, said such an interpretation could be only half correct as disseminating the content to the public without permission could also be deemed violation of the Copyright Act. 
@khajochi quoted the rates for the right to use GMM Grammy’s songs as listed on its website. For example, a restaurant, fast food, pub with a seating capacity of 1-60 seats must pay Bt12,500 per year for a song. Bigger places, with 180-seats capacity or more must pay Bt30,000 a year per song. Hotels, hospitals and resorts would be charged Bt300 or Bt500/year/room according to their room rates. 
Bourbon Chuvit posted on Facebook, “When you run a restaurant, there are costs for the ambience to attract customers. You choose to use lighting and aroma. You pay for them. ... If you play songs to make your restaurant cozy, don’t you think it affects your sales that day. Does it make a difference? Think about it. ... Everything has a cost, you cannot make profit from other people’s investment for free.”
Songwriter Peach Kamolrat wrote that in the movie “About A Boy”, the main character earned a lot of money so easily from the copyright of a song his father wrote. Looking into her own life, she did not have that luxurious life despite having written many popular songs. “I’m not calling for a pity. But I want people to better understand copyright. I’m not blaming anyone, the government and educational institutions should educate more. Music companies should also clarify what is allowed and what is not. We have been arguing on this issue for a long time. It’s time we really understood it.” 
Some music bands, including T-Bone, posted on Facebook allowing people to play their songs in public. Byrd & Heart posted they never received money from copyright. Anant Lerpradit, a veteran music reporter and critic, wrote two posts on the issue. 
He wrote that Reproduction Rights Organisations separately went to collect money from restaurants, coffee shops or other shops, and sometimes authorised other people, including many lawyers, to bring police officers and collect money. The loopholes of having many RRO then allowed bad people to extort money from shop owners who did not want to bother defending themselves assuming they would not win anyway. Meanwhile, related agencies rarely verified the real owners of the songs and the money collected rarely went to the songwriters and composers.
He proposed solutions, which included that shop owners only allow the officers to check or take away their computers or other devices only if they have a legal warrant. At the police station, all the details including the lyrics of the songs must be recorded in the Daily Report. He also proposed the case be a civil case only, not criminal, so that police officers will not be involved. Moreover, there should be a single and transparent RRO, which cares about the rights of the songwriters and composers. 
“In case of Thai songs, you just don’t play them, no one can mess with you,” he wrote in the second post. 
Offering another solution, attorney Wanchai Roujanavong shared a picture of Khaosod and wrote: “If you come to this shop, you should bring earplugs.”
The picture showed a sign saying, “Dear customers: While you come to buy goods in this shop, please be aware that the songs being played here are for the personal entertainment of this shop’s owners. You do not have the right to listen. If you listen, the shop will strictly take action against you for theft, robbery if two or more of you come together.”
RELATED
nationthailand