Copyrighting is your right
WE ARE VERY close to kicking off our VincyMas competitions at the Independence Park with Fantastic Friday. And as we were preparing this week’s edition, we received news which must be of interest to entertainers, especially at this time of year. We learnt that lawyer, Franklyn Max E Edwards had secured payment for a client for the unauthorized use of a local composition.
The release urged local artistes to register their compositions with a copyright organization, of which there are several. Here in the OECS, there is the Eastern Caribbean Copyright Organization (ECCO) which, although headquartered in Castries, St Lucia, serves artistes throughout the sub-region. In Trinidad and Tobago there is COTT – the Copyright Organization of Trinidad and Tobago. Internationally there is ASCAP, among others.
Local representative for ECCO Lance ‘DaVincy’ Trotman, has for years been belabouring the fact that many artistes in St Vincent and the Grenadines have little recourse if their creations are used without their permission.
In the case mentioned here, it was that a very popular song which had been composed for the 2015 general elections campaign in St Vincent & the Grenadines, had been used by two political parties in the Leeward Islands in their own campaigns. In both cases this was done without the permission of the owner of the work. The fact that a lawyer, acting on behalf of the owner of the composition was able to challenge the unauthorized use of, and win settlement for the song, was only due to it having been registered.
There are other examples of unauthorized use of music without compensation which include Disk Jockeys using songs at parties, radio stations playing these songs, or advertisers using songs. In all cases the law prescribes that the creators or owners of the works should be compensated. This is considered commercial use of the creations for which the creators are not compensated. Worst yet is that if a song has not been copyrighted, the owner would be powerless to challenge its use without compensation. There is, in fact, legislation on the books here which can ensure that creatives are paid for the unauthorized use of their music; but it is never enforced.
We read stories about very popular composers and singers who have died leaving their estate unable to collect a dollar for the use of their loved one’s intellectual property.
They include popular singers whose songs were and still are party hits.
On the other hand, popular Vincentian singer Sir Alston Becket Cyrus has gained a name in some quarters for being “difficult” for demanding his rights for his popular compositions.
So our message today for our calypsonians, calypso writers, Ragga and Power Soca writers and performers is, have you moved to protect your intellectual property? Have you joined a copyright organization? If you have not it is the right way to go.You should not take your works for granted. Copyrighted material remains yours even after you are gone. And we sing the refrain, a stitch in time saves… money for you, your offspring, your estate for your work, even after you have left this earthly realm.
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