Collective management will lower the transaction costs and facilitate equal representation. It will be a service to the users where it underwrites copyrights.
The challenges for modern and effective Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) are enormous. In future, CMOs will be subjected to strict regulations and anti corruption measures will play a key role. However, there will be more pressure on CMOs to ensure they operate to the highest standards, Interight Co. Limited UK President, Brian Nicholas Garnett said.
Collective management depends on the trust of rights holders and rights users. CMOs could be based on information, functions, structure and trust, he said at the high level sub regional workshop for policy makers on ‘Empowering Creativity for Sustainable Development and the Role of Copyrights’ held last week in Colombo. The collective management will lower the transaction costs and facilitate equal representation. It will be a service to the users where it underwrite copyrights. In today’s context, the impact of technology and the internet is huge. It has created a diversity of exploitation channels, made the copy right more complex, non-linear value chains and novel business model, he said.
The workshop was organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization in collaboration with the National Intellectual Property Office in Sri Lanka.
“With the advancement of science and technology users of copy rights and intellectual property has increase over the years. The CMOs are authorized to deal with matters related to copy rights and other rights of the performers, creators and producers. In 1979 Intellectual Property Law of Sri Lanka was codified,” Former Chairperson Intellectual Property Advisory Commission/ Senior Partner, Valoremjuris, Attorney at Law Ms. Suganthie Kadirgamar said.
The Act related to the intellectual property in Sri Lanka is the Code of Copy Right Act No 52 of 1979.
The country has established an entity named Sri Lanka Performing Rights Society Limited where it’s rights are administered through tariffs and royalties. It is very important that CMOs to have an effective monitoring system.
Amendments have been proposed for CMOs with regard to the royalties which are at a low level at present, she said.
It is expected that CMOs could adequately protect the copy rights of the holders where modern strong CMOs have become the need of the hour to have effective anti corruption mechanism, she said,