Learning that the Ministry of Culture began to charge KTV
copyright fees as of this month, Guangzhou karaoke operators,
worrying about being ordered to pay these fees, expressed their
stance: if there is no reasonable usage and standard, then we will
pay no fees, reported the Information Times
yesterday.
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Six months earlier the National Copyright Administration (NCA)
started collecting KTV copyright fees across the country, but up to
date two thirds of Guangzhou's Karaoke clubs have refused to pay
the fees because they question their validity.
The Cultural Market Development Center under the Ministry of
Culture is launching a "national karaoke management and service
syste" in seven provinces and an autonomous region, under which the
copyright fees shall be collected according to the number of songs:
it charges a daily rate of 4 yuan for 25 songs in each private room
and an extra 0.12 yuan for each song in excess of 25 songs. It is
estimated that this system will be gradually implemented across the
whole country.
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"The NCA already may collect 3 billion yuan per year in Guangzhou
alone under the daily rate of 12 yuan for each private room. Now
here comes another charge from the Ministry of Culture," grumbled
several big karaoke operators yesterday as they expressed their
discontent. The businessmen assert that this is a repetitive
charge.
They claimed that competition between karaoke clubs has become
very fierce, generating less profits than previously. Therefore
they cannot stand additional, repetitive charges to pay fees from
various government departments. "Inevitably these fees shall be
transferred to the consumers by price hikes. If we do this how many
people would like to come to sing at our
establishments?"?????
Some karaoke operators said that they would not violate the law
by refusing to pay the copyright fees. But they need to know why
they should pay them in the first place. "At least we should be
told which department is collecting these fees and how the rate of
the fees is set and how these fees will be used," they all
said.
Industry insiders revealed that since Guangzhou has been
disputing and opposing the copyright fees levied by the NCA, the
Ministry of Culture has not listed it as a trial city.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Ming'ai, December 7, 2007)