By Foster Benjamin:
Artists in the country have asked the Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma) not to roll out its much-touted digital store, saying it is not in the interest of members since their works will not be monetised on the platform.
The artists made the call in Lilongwe on Tuesday during a consultative meeting with the copyright body.
Celebrated R&B artist Kell Kay said Cosoma should not proceed with the initiative to launch the digital platform.
The ‘Juju’ star said Cosoma should, rather, help individual artists and associations establish their digital platforms for a global reach.
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“Some of us have our own YouTube channels and we are doing better than even collecting blank media levy. So, we advise you, our mother body, to help creatives set up YouTube platforms so that they can boost sales of their artworks,” Kell Kay said.
Gospel musician Limbani Simenti and producer Cuthbert Joya, popularly known as Cuff-B, said Cosoma’s Digital Store will serve no purpose since it will only stock artworks without selling them.
“This initiative should be abandoned from the start and you should not even bother selling it to our fellow artists, whether in Blantyre or Mzuzu or anywhere and, I tell you, you should expect more resistance,” Simenti said.
But Cosoma Head of Documentation and Distribution Shadrick Kumtengo said they intend not to monetise the works on the basis of transparency and accountability.
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“We do not want any allegations pertaining to artists’ royalties once the platform is operational. What we want is to monitor trends regarding the flow of artist’s works, be it music, movies or audiobooks, and this will help us determine how best we can deal with the issue of blank media levy because we will be having right information,” Kumtengo said.
