Macau, SAR, 6 November 2009 – CISAC hails the payment of licence fees by ICM to newly created Macau authors’ society, MACA for the public performance of musical works used in the 23rd Macau International Music Festival as both a historic and long overdue remuneration to local and foreign composers, authors and music publishers alike.
The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), a non-profit, non-governmental organization that is officially recognized by the World Intellectual Property Organization ( WIPO ), a United Nations specialist organ, and UNESCO, have been collaborating with Macau authors and composers on the formation of a collective management organization for the administration of inter alia, the public performance or communication rights in musical works in Macau. The Macau Association of Composers, Authors & Publishers ( MACA ) was thus legally organized and registered with the Macau Department of Identification and the Intellectual Property Department earlier this year.
Subsequent to MACA’s formation, CISAC arranged for the key international repertory of musical works to be entrusted to MACA for administration throughout Macau. This includes musical works from countries such as the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Australia, Canada, etc.. Thus, users in this territory need only to go to MACA to obtain a licence for the public performance rights in musical works.
Under the law governing copyrights in Macau, whenever there is a public performance or public communication of musical works, the permission of the local or foreign copyright owner is required before the use may be carried out. As Macau is a part of the Berne Convention, almost all of the local or foreign musical works publicly performed, broadcast or communicated in the territory, whether by casinos, hotels, radio and television broadcasters, cable operators, for ring tone downloads, in cinemas or over the Internet would be protected by law for which payment of royalties have to be made for their use by their respective operators.
Thus, we would like to reiterate that in the territory of Macau, MACA is now legally empowered by the international community of composers, authors and music publishers to license and collect royalties for the public performances or communication to the public of musical works that are within its repertory and control.
