Sunday Times: Lifestyle
4 Feb 2007
Copyright rules mean even small shops & eateries must
pay up if they want to play CNY songs
PAY - if you want to play Chinese New Year songs in your shop,
restuarant or hair salon.
This is even if you do so for a short period during the run-up to
the celebration. That's the stand of the Composers and Authors
Society of Singapore (Compass), a non-profit organisation which
protects the copyright interests of composers, authors and
publishers of musical works.
It collects, & distributes, royalities to them.
Compass spokesman Gerald Ng says a fee must be paid "whether they
play music 2 weeks in a year during Chinese New Year or the whole
year round".
An annual licence is required to broadcast music. Ansd the rule
doesn't just apply to nightclubs or KTV lounges. It also affects
all commercial outlets that play recorded music - even
neighbourhood stores, coffee shops and hair salons.
The cost can range from $195 for a small eatery with 32 seats to
about $16000 for a large mall with 20000 sq m of pedestrian
space.
An operator of an average-sized coffee shop with 90 seats will have
to pay $380, or risk a fine not exceeding $20000, a jail term of up
to 2 years, or both.
... ...
What the bloody hell is wrong with Singapore nowadays!? Every
little single thing have to pay money! Is buying the original disc
& then broadcast in the shop not enough, still have to pay a
fee?! The "Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (Compass), a
non-profit organisation", we'll see about that if it is non-profit!
It'd better be transparent about how it deals with the money
collected, down to the very single cent. If not let's get ready for
the sequel to the NKF saga, the Compass Saga.
