THE STAR
20/3/2025
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Artistes’ Association (Karyawan) fully supports the efforts of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living through the Intellectual Property Corporation MyIPO to introduce a set of Guidelines to further enhance the operations of various bodies that have been licensed to collect royalties from public music performances.
The plan to introduce the Guidelines was announced by the Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali at an event called “Music Royalty Advocacy” at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur recently.
“Over the past few years, the KPDN has been bombarded with various complaints and criticisms regarding the operations of existing royalty collection bodies that have been licensed under the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia or MyIPO.
"These complaints not only stem from members of the bodies but also from music users such as hotels, broadcasting stations and entertainment premises,” said Datuk Freddie Fernandez, President of the Malaysian Employees Association.
“As would be expected the majority of the complaints stem from artists and composers who are mostly dissatisfied with the way the collection bodies are being managed by their existing boards.
"Many well known artistes have not received any royalties for many years although their songs are still hugely popular and are still widely being used on radio and television stations who are paying millions to the royalty collection bodies. There are also complaints from music users about the unreasonable tariff hikes being implemented on payments for the use of music on their premises,” he added.
“The process of selecting members of the board of directors of the collection bodies has commonly been a source of contention where only certain candidates who are aligned to certain parties are repeatedly selected through a voting system that is considered unfair and does not reflect the wishes of the majority of members.
"Not only that, but members do not have the opportunity to determine the future direction of the bodies concerned because the total votes allotted to each member are based on a formula that is deemed unfair and is badly in need of revision. These new guidelines will address these and many other anomalies in the constituitions of the respective bodies.
“These Guidelines will be a good starting point to address and resolve all the problems and issues that exist. We would like to extend our highest appreciation to the Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali and his team for his strong commitment in ensuring these guidelines are implemented.
“For a long time now, artists and composers have had to deal with several collection bodies that are not completely transparent and accountable to their members.
"These guidelines will make the operation of the royalty collection bodies more transparent and equitable to all whilst providing members with the necessary protection to ensure their rights are not subjugated in any manner by the managements of the bodies concerned.” said Freddie Fernandez.
Earlier, Malaysia's collective management organisations (CMOs) for the music industry have expressed concerns about the recently published Guidelines of Copyright (Collective Management Organisations) 2025 (CMO Guidelines) by the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO).
In a joint statement on Thursday (March 20), Music Authors' Copyright Protection (MACP), Public Performance Malaysia (PPM), and Recording Performers Malaysia (RPM) claimed that the guidelines were introduced on January 17 without prior consultation.
They argued that certain provisions exceed the jurisdiction granted under the Copyright Act 1987 and conflict with existing laws.
"As a result, we believe that the guidelines should not be adopted by us," the statement read.
While recognising the government's intention to enhance governance and operations of CMOs, the three organisations raised concerns that specific provisions could undermine their autonomy in protecting the rights of creators and copyright holders.
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