BACKGROUND
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 member of the Berne Convention , almost all of the local or foreign musical works used 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.
The Macau Association of Composers , Authors & Publishers (MACA) was thus organized by a dedicated group of local composers led by Mr Ung Kuoc Iang and supported by CISAC,and registered with the Macau Department of Identification and the Intellectual Property Department in 2009. 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, Australia, Canada, Taiwan and China etc. The foregoing contracts are estimated to cover up to 90% of all musical works currently being used in Macau. CISAC continues to work with MACA to enter into contracts with other CISAC member societies throughout the world to ensure that users in this territory need only to go to MACA to obtain a licence for the public performance rights in musical works.
MISSION
In accordance with Article 4 of the Statutes of MACA,the objects for which MACA is established are to exercise and enforce on behalf of its Members their rights in relation to musical , literary or dramatic works or performances subsisting under the law of copyright or any other intellectual property rights in Macau and in all other countries or territories . They may be enumerated as follows:
| · | Administer and enforce collectively the rights of composers and authors of musical works |
| subsisting under the copyright law of Macau SAR . MACA at present controls the copyright of | |
| millions of musical works of local Members and Members from the above mentioned overseas | |
| affiliated Societies . All licence fees after deduction of its administrative costs will be distributed | |
| to local members and overseas affiliated societies depending on the works used in Macau. | |
| · | Protect and administer the rights of its Members in more countries/territories outside of Macau |
| by means of reciprocal representation agreements with overseas Societies. | |
| · | Educate the public on copyright issues , reinforce the public's respect towards composers and |
| authors and ensure that their creative efforts are properly remunerated. | |
| · | Promote and sponsor musical activities , encourage local composition and award music |
| scholarships to improve the local standard of music. | |
| FUNCTIONS | |
| · | Administration of public performance and communication, broadcasting and cable transmission |
| rights in the world repertoire of musical works vested by its Members and overseas affiliated | |
| Societies to MACA through licensing. | |
| · | Distribution of royalties collected to local Members and overseas affiliated Societies depending |
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| · | Creation of a MACA Music Fund which aims at promoting a higher standard of music |
| composition, sponsoring local musical activities and developing songwriting talents. | |
| · | Advisory services to Members and music users regarding copyright matters. |
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| copyright legislation and its implementations. | |