BLCPS organises WIPO mentorship programme for CMOs engaged in copyright management

The Bangladesh Copyright Office with BLCPS (Bangladesh Lyricist Composers & Performers Society) organised a daylong mentorship programme on 4 June at the "Gressho Hall" of Six Seasons Hotel in Gulshan titled "WIPO Mentorship Program for CMOs Engaged in Copyright Management."

Delegates from WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation), CISAC (International Confederation of CMOs'), and IPRS (Indian Performers Rights Society) addressed the programme and provided training and recommendations to participants.

The programme commenced at 10am with welcome speeches by Hamin Ahmed, CEO of BLCPS, followed by Miyuki Monroing, program officer, Copyright Management Division, Copyright, and Creative Industries Sector, WIPO, and then Nafriza Shyama, additional secretary, Ministry of Cultural Affairs on behalf of BLCPS, WIPO, and Ministry of Cultural Affairs respectively. 

Later the Copyright Registrar, Md. Daud Miah NDC (Additional Secretary inaugurated the event, followed by a formal photo session and five essential topics.

Collective Management Organization (CMO) is a government-approved authority that actively works to protect the intellectual property of its registered members and collects due royalties against intellectual property.

Miyuki Monroing was the first speaker of the event and spoke on the topic "WIPO's Activities in the Area of Collective Management and New Projects to Support the Growth and Development of Local CMOS."

"WIPO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that specialises in intellectual property including copyrights," said Miyuki Monroing. 

"CMO is often called a bridge between rights holders and users because a CMO may provide users with a legal and efficient way to use copyrighted works. And helps in collecting their own remunerations," she added. 

She further explained if a musician has a hit song that's being played everywhere in malls, cafes, restaurants, shops, etc. the makers of that music can easily collect their deserved remunerations by taking the help of the CMO. 

The second speaker Benjamin Ng, regional director for Asia-Pacific CIS spoke on "CISAC's Roles and Initiatives to Seamlessly Represent Creators Across the Globe and Ensure the Royalties Flow to Authors Effectively."

"CMO's role is to help to provide a license to the other usages of one's music for instance in YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, OTT platforms like Netflix and Disney+," he said. 

He also said in a time when there are things like ChatGPT, AI companies must also respect copyright policies and pay royalties accordingly. 

"We need human creation we don't want the future generation to only listen to songs made by AI. They don't make new songs they only create new songs based on the previous ones," he added. 

Later Satoshi Watanabe of CISAC gave his presentation on "The Role of Local CMOs in Building a Creative Ecosystem for Creators and Users: What Can CMOs Contribute to You." Afterward, Registrar of Copyright, Daud Miah spoke on the current status of copyright and related rights in Bangladesh. 

The presentation part of the event ended with the speech of the CEO, of BLCPS, Hamin Ahmed. He spoke on the current operational status of BLCPS and their future perspectives. 

The mentorship event was attended by well-known musicians, music stakeholders, radio and television channels, music channels, digital distribution platforms, publishers, event organizers, advertising agencies, journalists, lyricists, composers, singers, and others related to the music industry were present in the day-long event which was punctuated with lively question and answer sessions.

BLCPS is the first CMO for the music industry in Bangladesh. Founded in 2013, the government licensed the organization in 2014 to protect and manage the rights of Bangladeshi lyricists and songwriters, composers, singers, and distributors. 

Through BLCPS, Lyricists, Composers, and Performers will get the royalties they are entitled to, domestically and internationally.