Rex Omar
Ghana Music Right Organisation (GHAMRO) yesterday announced that payment of royalties to its members this December will commence tomorrow. The payment of royalties to its members, according GHAMRO, is in accordance with the Copyright Law 2005 and its regulatory Legislative Instrument (L.I 1962) GHAMRO.
An amount of GH¢700,000, which is just a part of the collections, will be distributed to its members.
The disbursement of royalties will be done through bank transfers and mobile money payments.
In a statement, GHAMRO said it is still creating awareness among the public about the need to pay music royalties in order to increase the amount of money pay to its members.
It, therefore, urged all commercial music users such as broadcasting stations, telecommunication operators, shopping malls, restaurants, event organisers, hairdressing salons, barbering shops and all other public places to apply to GHAMRO for a licence to regularise their use of musical works.
GHAMRO said its management and members of the board are currently working tirelessly to secure the interest of musicians in the country.
It assured members that steps are being taken to impose levy on other devices such as mobile phones, pen drives, hard discs, laptop computers, among others, to raise more funds for the music right owners.
“GHAMRO is very grateful for the patience exhibited by its members in the face of the delay and assure them of doing everything in our power to protect their interest,” the statement added.
A few weeks ago, some selected board members of GHAMRO embarked on nationwide regional visits to Takoradi, Sunyani, Kumasi and Northern Volta to update members on the review, operations and task force activities for the year under review.