Copyright Association of Malawi (COSOMA) is a Malawian parastatal organization established in 1992 after the enactment of the Copyright Act of 1989. [1] [2] [3] [4] Its main objective is promotion and protection of interest of composers, authors, performers, producers and broadcasters. [3] COSOMA collects and distributes royalties [1] to the rights holders for their rights. [3] The organization has two branches or offices: a Copyright office which is responsible for the implementation of the Copyright Act and a Collective Management Organization (CMO) that ensures collective management of musical, literary and artistic works. [5] [6] [3] [7]
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives the creator of an original work, or another right holder, the exclusive and legally secured right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself. A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States.
Copyrights can either be licensed or assigned by the owner of the copyright. A copyright collective is a non-governmental body created by copyright law or private agreement which licenses copyrighted works on behalf of the authors and engages in collective rights management. Copyright societies track all the events and venues where copyrighted works are used and ensure that the copyright holders listed with the society are remunerated for such usage. The copyright society publishes its own tariff scheme on its websites and collects a nominal administrative fee on every transaction.
PRS for Music Limited is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertakes collective rights management for musical works on behalf of its 160,000 members. PRS for Music was formed in 1997 following the MCPS-PRS Alliance. In 2009, PRS and MCPS-PRS Alliance realigned their brands and became PRS for Music.
The copyright law of Canada governs the legally enforceable rights to creative and artistic works under the laws of Canada. Canada passed its first colonial copyright statute in 1832 but was subject to imperial copyright law established by Britain until 1921. Current copyright law was established by the Copyright Act of Canada which was first passed in 1921 and substantially amended in 1988, 1997, and 2012. All powers to legislate copyright law are in the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Canada by virtue of section 91(23) of the Constitution Act, 1867.
The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers is an international non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation that aims to protect the rights and promote the interests of creators worldwide. It advocates for strong legal protection of copyright and authors' rights. It is the world's largest international network of authors' societies, also known as Collective Management Organisations (CMOs), copyright / royalty collection societies, collecting societies, or Performing Rights Organisations (PROs).
Directive 92/100/EEC is a European Union directive in the field of copyright law, made under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome. It creates a "rental and lending right" as a part of copyright protection, and sets out minimum standards of protection for the related rights of performers, phonogram and film producers and broadcasting organizations.
SoundExchange is an American non-profit collective rights management organization founded in 2003. It is the sole organization designated by the U.S. Congress to collect and distribute digital performance royalties for sound recordings. It pays featured and non-featured artists and master rights owners for the non-interactive use of sound recordings under the statutory licenses set forth in 17 U.S.C. § 112 and 17 U.S.C. § 114.
The Copyright Act 1911, also known as the Imperial Copyright Act 1911, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (UK) which received royal assent on 16 December 1911. The act established copyright law in the UK and the British Empire. The act amended existing UK copyright law, as recommended by a royal commission in 1878 and repealed all previous copyright legislation that had been in force in the UK. The act also implemented changes arising from the first revision of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in 1908.
Extended collective licensing (ECL) are collective copyright and related rights laws and licensing agreements. ECL agreements by law apply to all rights holders in a class, whether they are members of the collecting society or not, and establish terms of licenses with users or classes of users. The first ECL laws and agreements were established in the Nordic countries in the 1960s for television and radio broadcasting.
Collective rights management is the licensing of copyright and related rights by organisations acting on behalf of rights owners. Collective management organisations (CMOs), sometimes also referred to as collecting societies, typically represent groups of copyright and related rights owners, i.e.; authors, performers, publishers, phonogram producers, film producers and other rights holders. At the least, rights holders authorize collective rights management organizations to monitor the use of their works, negotiate licenses with prospective users, document correct right management data and information, collect remuneration for use of copyrighted works, ensuring a fair distribution of such remuneration amongst rightsholders. CMOs also act on legal mandates. Governmental supervision varies across jurisdictions.
Collection administration of copyrights describes the use in Canadian law of collective societies to manage licenses for copyrighted material belonging to more than one copyright owner. These collective societies are responsible for granting permission to use the works they manage and setting out what conditions users of their works must follow. Examples of collective societies in Canada include: Christian Video Licensing International and the Canadian Broadcasters Rights Agency
The Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers (JACAP) is a Jamaican not-for-profit membership collective management organization which was established in 1998. JACAP administers the public performance and, if assigned also, the mechanical (reproductive) rights and synchronization rights of lyricists (authors), music composers and music publishers in Jamaica. JACAP is a member of the umbrella organisation for copyright societies CISAC - The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers. JACAP is also a founding member of The Association of Caribbean Copyright Societies (ACCS).
The Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers in Israel, known by the acronym ACUM, is a non-profit copyright collective which engages in collective rights management for authors, poets, lyricists, composers, arrangers, and music publishers in Israel. As a member of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), ACUM is affiliated with more than 100 similar rights organizations around the world, with which it engages in reciprocal royalty collection agreements. It also holds an annual prize ceremony which honors authors and musicians in many categories, including lifetime achievement.
The Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) is a South Korean non-profit copyright collective for musical works, administering public performance and broadcasting rights, and mechanical recording and reproduction rights. Founded in 1964, it is the second collective rights management organization for musical works in Asia, after JASRAC in Japan. It is also one of the largest in Asia, with over 40,000 members. In 2021, it collected ₩289 billion in licensing fees and distributed ₩256 billion in royalties to its members.
Simplex Chithyola Banda is a Malawian politician and educator who is the current Minister of Trade and Industry in Malawi from February 2023. He is a Member of Parliament for Kasungu South Constituency.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs is a minister in the Cabinet of Malawi who is responsible for the financial management of government affairs, including attending national budget, and developing economic policy. The current minister is Simplex Chithyola Banda.
The Christian Health Association of Malawi (CHAM) is a non-governmental healthcare organisation in Malawi that seeks to ensure that all people have access to high-quality and affordable health services. According to its official website, the organisation claims to provide 30% of Malawi's healthcare services and trains up to 80% of Malawi's healthcare providers. It serves in typical rural and urban areas, to less fortunate and most underserved populations. The organisation is a network of church-owned health facilities, hospitals and training colleges with an intention to provide lower-cost health services, as well as promotion of diverse and special healthcare services. It is made of 195 health facilities and 11 training colleges located all over the country.
Bon Kalindo also known as Winiko is a Malawian activist, comedian, politician and actor. In 2023, Kalindo protested against the Malawi Congress Party whose president is Lazarus Chakwera, the current president of Malawi, to step down out of presidency due to devaluation of the country's currency. He was arrested several times. On 30 August 2023, he was arrested and released out of the prison the same day.
Zilanie Tamara Gondwe is a Malawian journalist, activist, and entrepreneur. She is most known as the founder and CEO of Blackmore Creative Agency, a public relations and event management agency. Through the company, she has spearheaded many popular national events such as Women of Distinction Awards (WODA), CREAM - Woman in the Arts! ,Tedx Lilongwe and Fashion Malawi Edition (FAME)'s fashion shows, which initiated Malawi's first fashion week.