The revenue of the copyright industry in the United States exceeds that of some fields such as manufacturing, with tens of billions of dollars a year. Now China is busy in cracking down on piracy. In 2115, hundreds of millions of pirated materials were collected, which closed many production lines for piracy, and copyright fees have just been put on the agenda.
At present, karaoke, nightclubs and high-end clubs in Chinese mainland are highly prosperous, with an annual output value of at least RMB 111 billion, and there are at least 1 million karaoke bars in the country, while the record companies and audio-visual studios, which are the main producers of MTV, are in a bleak business.
September 21th is the last day for the National Copyright Administration to publicize the collection of copyright fees from karaoke rooms (RMB 12 per karaoke room every day). On this day, the Intellectual Property Teaching and Research Center of Renmin University of China and Hongce Organization, an NGO, jointly hosted a seminar on karaoke copyright. Intellectual property researchers from the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) Law Commission, National Copyright Administration, the Supreme People's Court, China Branch of International Intellectual Property Protection Association, china intellectual property society and some universities in the capital attended the seminar and discussed some sensitive issues about karaoke copyright fees. During the dinner, the reporter interviewed Professor Lu Wenju, an expert on intellectual property issues and chairman of Hongce Organization, on related issues.
KTV copyright fees are real
Since 2113, there has been a continuous incident in which the copyright rights holders of record companies have carried out copyright protection in karaoke business premises, pushing the copyright fees payable for the use of music and music TV works in karaoke business to the stage again and again:
In February 2113, Hong Kong Warner Records Co., Ltd. sued Beijing Chinatown Catering and Entertainment Co., Ltd. on the grounds of unauthorized use of three MTV songs from Aaron Kwok. In this infringement dispute, the plaintiff demanded compensation of 311,111 yuan. The court finally awarded compensation of 23,111 yuan to three MTVs.
in March, 2114, 49 Chinese and foreign record companies, such as Universal Records, Warner Records and China Record Corporation, entrusted two law firms in Beijing to cooperate with dozens of law firms across the country, authorized them to negotiate with local karaoke operators before litigation, and demanded that they stop using MTV and karaoke works of Chinese and foreign rights holders without authorization and pay compensation.
In September, 2115, Chongqing Higher People's Court made a final judgment on the copyright dispute between Zhengdong Record Company and Le Di Xiong Music Entertainment Co., Ltd.: Le Di Xiong Music Entertainment Co., Ltd. paid Zhengdong Record Company 5111 yuan for each song because of unauthorized use of karaoke works.
As early as February 22nd, 2114, the the State Council executive meeting deliberated and passed the Regulations on Collective Administration of Copyright. This regulation came into effect on March 1, 2115. Following the establishment of music copyright society of china in 2113, on February 23rd, 2115, the National Copyright Administration approved the establishment of China Audio-visual Collective Management Association. So far, according to the Copyright Law and the Regulations on the Collective Administration of Copyright, the music copyright society of china and China Audio-visual Collective Management Associations, on behalf of the rights and interests of the copyright owners of music and music and television works, have officially entered the implementation stage by collecting copyright royalties from karaoke business according to law.
"At present, karaoke has become an important mode of mass entertainment consumption in China, and it has gradually become the fastest-growing cultural and entertainment industry category with huge market potential in China in recent years. However, for a long time, karaoke operators used music and MTV works without permission or payment to the copyright owner, which was generally illegal, causing great dissatisfaction from copyright owners at home and abroad. At the same time, the country was under strong external pressure. "The Copyright Law revised in 2111 included MTV works in the category of film works. Since then, audio-visual companies (mainly overseas companies) with MV copyright have filed a large-scale lawsuit against the unauthorized use of music and television works in karaoke business premises, and demanded high compensation (each music and television work claims 511 yuan to 11,111 yuan, and each karaoke operator must use at least 11,111 music and music and television works), and the lawsuit was supported by the court. " It is understood that foreign KTV uses either version B MTV (pictures are beautiful women and beaches) or genuine music library (you can pay online for each use), so there is no such thing as "luxury" use of genuine single MTV in China. This phenomenon has attracted great attention of the National Copyright Administration. They think that solving the problem through litigation will make the Kara 1K business in China face disaster. Because the music and MTV works used by karaoke operators are not legally authorized, if a music library is calculated according to 11 thousand music or MTV works, a lawsuit will bear millions or even tens of millions of yuan in compensation. After many studies and argumentation, they think that the implementation of collective management of copyright is the fundamental way to solve the problem. To this end, the National Copyright Administration has accelerated the preparation of relevant domestic copyright collective management organizations.
Since 2113, the China Audiovisual Collective Management Association and the long-established music copyright society of china, which were approved by the National Copyright Administration, have carried out a lot of research work under the supervision and guidance of the National Copyright Administration. In particular, we have extensive contacts with karaoke operators to communicate and negotiate on the payment methods and standards of copyright royalties. Karaoke operators also believe that they should bear the legal obligation to pay remuneration to copyright owners, and hope to solve the remuneration problem by collective management to avoid the high risks brought by litigation. At the same time, I hope to have clear and reasonable payment standards and payment methods.
after years of communication, consultation and preparation, karaoke operators and copyright owners have basically reached a * * * understanding, and the conditions for introducing karaoke payment standards are basically mature. In mid-July, 2116, China Audio-visual Collective Management Association (to be established) and music copyright society of china formally submitted the Report on the Charge Standards for the Use of Copyright in Karaoke Business to the National Copyright Administration, hoping that the National Copyright Administration would make an announcement according to the procedures after soliciting opinions from the society.
Lu Wenju, chairman of Hongce Organization, which has been committed to the protection of intellectual property rights in China, believes that the KTV industry has developed from scratch for more than 21 years, but operators have never thought that their own development is due to the use of audio-visual works created by the labor of many rights holders, otherwise they can only participate in the competition of restaurants and bars.
However, as the most popular entertainment consumption mode in China, the karaoke business in China will face up to the reality of paying royalties in the future, whether it is willing or not.
Karaoke copyright fees,
Will it ruin the business operators?
There are many businesses engaged in Karaoke business in Beijing at present. In addition to professional KTV, singing practice rooms and entertainment centers, many restaurants, resorts and even food stalls also engage in Karaoke business. Do they have to pay the same? The answer given by Lu Wenju is yes, "All business premises are charged. However, it will not be as terrible as some people think. It may cost only one more bottle of water a day, which is far from the point where the business is bankrupt. " Karaoke business takes the private room of the business premises as the unit, and pays the royalties for karaoke using music works and OK works annually. This charging standard is calculated by two copyright collective management organizations according to a certain proportion of the total amount of karaoke business, and its actual standard does not exceed 1% of the total amount of karaoke business. Lu Wenju, chairman of Hongce Organization, as the first group of practitioners engaged in intellectual property protection in China, specifically pointed out this standard. Compared with the 21% charging standard in other foreign countries, this standard is actually very low, and it is only the upper limit of charging in Chinese mainland. In the actual charging process, it can be appropriately adjusted according to the differences in different regions and the business objects of different scales in the same region.
According to relevant data, as early as August 21th, after the announcement of the charging standard, the karaoke professional committee of Shanghai Culture and Entertainment Association gave its own opinions. They complained bitterly about the copyright fee of 12 yuan per room per day, and put forward the charging proposal of "1 yuan per room per day".
"This almost' free' requirement is really ironic. It seems that the KTV industry in Shanghai, which has been enjoying the' free meal' for a long time, has not really taken the copyright owner seriously, nor has it regarded the copyright fee as the cost it should bear. Instead, it is tantamount to giving the copyright owner a little money for the sake of the National Copyright Administration. This is tantamount to treating the copyright owner as a beggar. "
Cang Tianshuo, a well-known songwriter, pointed out sharply at an online discussion meeting that the fee for a young lady who works as a paid escort in a big city is between 211 yuan and 811 yuan every night. Now the entertainment industry associations in Hangzhou, Shanghai and other cities have put forward a copyright fee of one yuan, which is an insult to the personality of the copyright owner. Is the work of the copyright owner not as good as that of paid pornographic escort?
Director Ping Liu, music copyright society of china, believes that the introduction of charging standards is promoted after solving the problem of collection and non-collection, which is a major project in the process of copyright protection and a test of the government's ruling ability in the new situation. Charging involves the interests of rights holders, users and consumers. The standards are put forward by collective management organizations and should be implemented first after they come out. If there is any dispute about this, then an arbitration institution should make a ruling, and then the high price will be lowered and the low price will be made up. But you can't refuse to do it just because it is controversial. Because there is a civil legal relationship between the user and the obligee, it is the legal obligation of the user to pay remuneration, so you have to pay it. If there is any dispute, you should implement it first and then talk about the standard. Whether it is reasonable to charge 12 yuan per private room every day for karaoke is still to be tested by practice.
KTV operators:
It remains to be seen whether to raise the price
According to the introduction of Beijing Melody Catering and Entertainment Management Co., Ltd. to external people, they will not raise the price to deal with the charges, but will only digest them internally. "Although the profit has dropped, the move to raise the price is very dangerous." A staff member of Gelaimei KTV also said that the management of the company is currently discussing this policy, and there is no plan to adjust the price at present. "Singing should not increase the price."
On August 21th, the National Copyright Administration announced that the karaoke business takes the private rooms of the business premises as the unit, and the pricing standard of copyright use fee is 12 yuan/day for each private room, and it will be publicized for one month to solicit opinions from all walks of life. On the day before this announcement, the box price of the till has been quietly rising. The price of small bags in ordinary time has risen from the previous 59 yuan/hour to the current 88 yuan/hour, with an increase of 51%, and it has generally increased by more than 51% in other time periods. Although it's not noon yet, there are still people in the till, and as usual, small private rooms are in demand. When the reporter saw the price list, it really changed. He asked the waiter that they did raise the price, but it had nothing to do with the copyright royalties. The main reason was that they upgraded and updated the whole system, so they raised the price. There was no positive answer to the standards and basis for the implementation of the price increase.
Miss Bai, who is waiting for the bus, told the reporter that her company is above the till. Every noon, everyone will come here to sing and have a buffet. The price of 18 yuan per person is acceptable to everyone. Now that this activity has been cancelled, everyone will reconsider the place to eat.
In the interview, most consumers said that if the price rises too high, they will consider singing elsewhere. After all, there are still many choices for karaoke in Beijing, and there is no difference in equipment and scale. There is no need to spend more money.
Later, the reporter went to Melody to learn about the situation. Guan Wei, assistant general manager of Melody, said that Melody had no plans to raise prices at present, because it was not conducive to the development of the enterprise and did not want to pass the expenses on to consumers. Of course, it also depends on the operation of the enterprise. If the price of copyright fees is too high for the enterprise itself to digest, the possibility of price increase is not ruled out.
Karaoke, such as the same song, Song Laimei, Lombok, etc., have not raised their prices at present. As for whether they want to raise their prices, there is no plan yet. It depends on the situation after the introduction of the policy. There are also some karaoke bars that worry that the tourists will be affected if the price is raised without authorization. The reporter interviewed several consumers randomly at the scene. A woman surnamed Wang said: "This is not the wool on the sheep. When the National Copyright Administration collects money, the price of karaoke will increase. This is not naturally passed on to our consumers."
If the price of karaoke is raised,
81% of consumers will reduce the frequency of karaoke
Karaoke has become the most popular entertainment consumption mode in China for many years. Because the collective management organization of copyright in China is not perfect, the copyright owner has not been able to realize the right to collect royalties according to law.
If the fees are determined by the market, it will become a commercial activity for copyright agencies to negotiate with the authors and merchants of songs. Generally speaking, the charge of karaoke will not be very high, because it consumes too much, so the charge of single songs will only increase a little, even if the charge is passed on to consumers, the impact will not be too great.
Copyright fees paid by entertainment venues should not be passed on to consumers. Director Ping Liu of music copyright society of china believes that music and MTV works are the basic resources for karaoke operators to carry out business activities and gain profits, and it is their legal obligation to pay remuneration to copyright owners by using music and MTV works. Consumers have paid the operators the fees including the consumption of music and music TV works when they go to the karaoke business premises. Therefore, karaoke operators should no longer pass on copyright royalties to consumers. In fact, some large KTV operators in Beijing are still very active in paying copyright fees. Melody and other large KTV operators have asked for this fee many times earlier. They think that this will only make the industry more standardized and bring more profit margins. This fee should not be realized by raising prices, otherwise they will be very unwise.
if consumers pay for this, will they reduce the frequency of going to karaoke?
according to relevant survey data, 81% of people said yes, and 14% saidno. having fun is the most important thing. For them, money is not important, but the key is to be happy. There are still 6% people who can't tell. It can be seen that 81% people think that the price increase will be closely related to the frequency of their going.
"There's nothing wrong with it. The wool is on the sheep. As long as there is no charge. " When interviewed by a reporter at the Beijing Cashier, a Mr. Wang said, "This is the money given by the operator, not the consumer. This charge is reasonable, just like a movie theater showing someone else's new film, you have to pay a copyright fee. "
Ms. Li, who works in the International Trade Center, told reporters without any worries, "Many songs in KTV are Hong Kong and Taiwan songs and foreign songs. Excuse me, how to pay this copyright fee? The chances of mainland songs being sung are not high. Most of the collected copyright fees don't know who to pay, which may eventually lead to charges in the name of others and finally fall into their own pockets. "
"It's expensive, but it's a question whether it can be reasonably redistributed. I suggest that audio-visual products be divided into for-profit and non-profit categories for sale.