FHRAI, EEMA to Jointly Address Copyright Issues with AV Content, Push for Tariff Rationalisation
by EVENTFAQS Bureau Industry Watch | August 20, 2021 | News
EEMA
The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and the Event and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) have announced that they will collaborate to address their members' concerns about copyright issues when using AV content.
The two associations will work together to develop a unified strategy to address the common challenges that industry players face in dealing with the oppressive practices of certain copyright societies or agents, informed a joint statement.
The common intent is to achieve tariff rationalisation in copyrights, for which they will engage with relevant authorities.
“Events and entertainment as an industry is a natural extension of the hospitality ecosystem. EEMA and FHRAI’s collaboration will strengthen the existing ecosystem and synergise the relationship for a progressive working culture. One of our immediate plans is to make joint efforts to address the copyright issues for the benefit of our members by creating a cohesive strategy to address the common challenges across both industries effectively. Currently, the copyright societies impose unregulated tariffs and intimidate businesses with arbitrary non-compliance notices. There is no mechanism to challenge these agents and by coming together we are aiming to bring about tariff rationalisation in copyrights,” said Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, FHRAI.
Roshan Abbas, President, EEMA, said, “EEMA and FHRAI are a natural partners and it took us a decade to come together to finally work in tandem to take on the issues of the music copyright agents and the ever-changing copyright societies. We both vehemently oppose the agencies charging for music licence for weddings and wedding-related functions as it's exempted under Section 52 (1) (za) of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957. We will be jointly working on many other matters like rationalising of the exuberant tariffs etc. and other matters of mutual interest for our respective industries.”
The two associations plan to submit joint representations to all concerned government authorities regarding the copyright issue.
Vehemently oppose charging for music licences for weddings and wedding-related functions, which are exempted under the Indian Copyright Act, 1957.