Artistes petition Parliament over copyright law

Artistes from the Uganda Musicians Association (UMA) and the National Culture Forum met MPs on the ICT committee on Thursday, October 6, 2023 and asked them to push for a fair share of tax revenue from caller ring back tunes (CBRTs)

They argued that telecommunication companies continue to earn much higher revenue of 35% from the caller ring back tones, leaving them with only 1.8%.

“Currently, telecoms earn a gross revenue of up to sh72b annually, that’s 35% leaving the musician with a paltry 1.8%, yet the musician is obligated to pay income tax of 30% on this income,” said Charles Batambuze, the vice-chairperson of the National Cultural Forum.

The artistes also want Parliament to force media houses to pay for using their music, saying only 5% of broadcasters are currently paying their royalties.

“We wonder why UCC (Uganda Communications Commission) does not invoke the copyright law, which requires media houses to pay for using artistes’ work. We have held several meetings with them, signed memoranda of understanding with broadcasters, but compliance is still a challenge,” Batambuze said.

The programmes director of UMA, Geoffrey Ekongot, told the committee that they have not only engaged UCC, but also Uganda Revenue Authority and the Attorney General chambers over the same issues, but have not succeeded.

“We have tried to engage UCC and other government agencies, but we have not been helped. We, for instance, asked the commission that renewal of license for media houses should be based on compliance by paying fees, but it has not been effected,” he said.

Ekongot said musicians’ efforts to sue broadcasters and telecom companies for unfair pay and non-compliance have been constrained by the prolonged court processes.

“What is common with most of these cases is that they take a very long time. The recent one of Konshens Vs Airtel Uganda took eight years. There are few artistes who can sustain such a long court battle. The telecoms with their deep wallets finance the court process deliberately to wear you out until you run out of money,” he said.

The committee’s deputy chairperson, Tonny Ayoo, said the committee would interact with UCC and the relevant agencies on the issues raised by the artistes.

“It is possible to track how much money you earn from the way your music is being utilised, it is possible with YouTube, i-tunes and so these telecoms should provide us that data of music that is used by people using their phones,” he said.

The artistes also appealed to the Government, through finance minister Matia Kasaija, to include the creative industry in the national budget of 2024/25.

"This industry employs over 386,000 Ugandans directly through its value chain of production, marketing and distribution. We request your ministry to budget for our sector in the coming financial year budgets,” they added.