SAMRO warns businesses to “pay royalties or face legal action”

SAMRO is Africa’s leading CMO that is responsible for collecting royalty fees and distributing them to about 20 000 authors, composers and publishers. The pronouncement comes ahead of the South African Music Users (SAMU) workshop, which will be held at the Bolivia Lodge in Polokwane on 25 November.

SAMRO CEO Mark Rosin said compliance with the laws governing the use of protected music rights in South Africa needs to improve. He implored pubs, mobile DJs, clubs, restaurants, shopping malls and other businesses to obtain the requisite licence to play copyrighted music for public consumption. Rosin said that there was a tendency by business owners in South Africa who view such transgressions as minor with little to no consequences for breaches.

“SAMRO is going to take steps against businesses that are found to be non-compliant,” he said.  

SAMRO said music users must buy usage licences that permit them to play music publicly at their businesses or venues. Failiure to do so, Rosin said, is tantamount to theft.

“It’s a tough term to use, but this could be interpreted as theft,” he said. “Details of the music rights law are laid out in the Copyright Act. We don’t make the rules. If you play any music to a public audience that isn’t written, created, performed, published, and recorded by you, then it belongs to the music creator and you need a licence. People don’t mind paying for stock and music has to be seen as part of the “stock” of a business that uses it.”

Apart from this being a law, music creators depend on adherence to these rules to collect royalties, Rosin said.

“By supporting music creators, you are helping to create a healthy music industry, ensuring that people who create music reap the benefits of creating a song that you played at your establishment,” he said. “During the financial year ended June 2020, amounts available for distribution collected by SAMRO amounted to R400m.”

He added: “These figures clearly demonstrate that we are making progress in maximizing value for our members, however, we would like to see other businesses contribute their fair share.”

For more information, watch videos on How SAMRO Licensing Works and How SAMRO Distributes Royalties.