Licensed to Play August 2014

But SAMRO licenses the music used by  radio stations, television broadcasters, shopping malls, pubs, restaurants, shebeens and mobile DJs, to mention but a few. It’s no mean feat looking after the interests of such a diverse grouping of people and businesses year in and year out.

Music everywhere

Established in 1961, SAMRO’s role has been dynamic, particularly in the past 20 years. Take a look around you – today, there are many more ways to listen to music than there were two decades ago. Technology has made it easier to make, listen, distribute and sell, as well as to reproduce and copy music. There are also many more businesses that play music to please their customers and employees. Music is everywhere. If it’s not where you are yet, it will get there soon enough, be it legally via an app or illegally via piracy. Making sure those who create the music get their fair share of the pie has certainly become more complicated in the modern age.

Transformation and new leadership

SAMRO was founded by Dr Gideon Roos and his two sons.  They played a key role in the formation and running of the organisation. Dr Roos’ son Paul was at a point the CEO and his other son, Gideon Roos Jnr, was the Executive Director. This changed in 1997 when the Roos family took a decision to step down and resigned from their positions. Rob Hooijer took over the reins as CEO and invested in grooming the next generation of CEOs. In 2006, he stepped down to make way for Nicholas Motsatse, the first black CEO in the organisation’s history. Last year, Deputy CEO Sipho Dlamini moved into the CEO position.

Golden jubilee and new legal status

In 2011 SAMRO celebrated 50 years of creating value for the creators of music with an array of activations. Some of the activation included the Builders Awards – which were created to honour all the individuals who were instrumental in the formation and growth of SAMRO – the SAMRO documentary, which was broadcast on SABC 1 in 2013 and the SAMRO book which will be out soon.

From 1 May 2013, the organisation ceased to be a company limited by guarantee and became a not-for-profit company in terms of the new Companies Act No 71 of 2008 as amended (the Act).

New premises

Having grown over the years, in 2007, SAMRO relocated from 73 Juta Street to its current premises – SAMRO Place, at 20 De Korte Street in Braamfontein. These offices offer excellent access and facilities as well as more space to house the team of experts needed to drive the organisation to its next level of growth.

Upgraded IT and business systems

In keeping with the times, in 2013 SAMRO adopted a new IT system to make it far simpler for members to interact with the organisation online. The system provides several new benefits to members and facilitates integration, all of which was not possible before. Some of the key functionalities include the web portal that provides 24-hour online access to member accounts and the ability to notify works and performances online.

Growing talent

In its role as a leading collecting society in Africa, SAMRO helps ensure that the music industry, and all working in it, remain healthy and thriving. This includes helping to ‘grow’ new talent.

Over the past 20 years, SAMRO, through the SAMRO Foundation has awarded a total of 1552SAMRO Music Bursaries and 34  SAMRO Overseas Scholarships.

Copyright laws in South Africa were launched as early as 1910, after the creation of the Union of South Africa (present day Republic of South Africa). The Act was amended In 1916 Parliament enacted the Patents, Designs, Trademarks and Copyright Act 1916, which incorporated the British Imperial Copyright Act 19911 into South African law. In 1928 South Africa became a party to the Berne Convention in its own right.

South Africa become a republic in 1961 and Parliament enacted the Copyright Act of 1965, which was still largely based on the British Copyright Act 1956. In 1978, Parliament replaced the Act with the Copyright Act of 1978, which (as amended) remains in force. The Act has been amended several times, most notably in 1992 to make computer programs a distinct class of protected work, and in 1997 to bring it into line with international agreements.

The Copyright Act enables the right to control the use and distribution of artistic and creative works, in the Republic of South Africa. Given the nature of the works of artists and composers, the Copyright Act protects copying of works of artists and composers without permission, and their creative works. According to the Act, the author of an original copyright work can become the owner of copyright automatically created, provided that certain requirements are met.

The Act is automatically recognised in other countries that are members of the Berne Convention (currently more than 148 countries are members of the Berne Convention). Copyright is automatically conferred on a work that is eligible for copyright at the time when it is created, provided that certain requirements are met. The duration of copyright is relatively long and the term is different for different categories of works. For literary, musical or artistic works other than photographs, the term is the life of the author plus 50 years from the end of the year in which the author dies.  So copyright will remain with the artist for even 50 years after their death. In the case of sound recordings and published editions, the term is 50 years from the end of the year in which the recording or edition is first published.

According to the Act, copyright infringement occurs when a person without the authorisation of the owner, does any of the acts reserved for the owner, for example by making a reproduction of the work. Indirect infringement can occur when a person without permission of the copyright owner, imports, sells, lets, by way of trade offers or exposes for sale or hire, or distributes for purposes of trade.

It can also happen if one permits a place of entertainment to be used for a public performance of a literary or musical work, where the performance constitutes an infringement of copyright. This means that the copyright owner can take legal action against any person who infringes copyright on their works.

If infringement is established to have taken place, the copyright owner will be entitled to damages as compensation, as determined by a court of law. Over the years, there have been a number of copyright infringement cases across the world. The one thing to always keep in mind is to give credit to the original owner of the artistic work.

Keep this in mind, copyright laws are there for a reason, don’t use other people’s creative work, as copyright infringement cases can get very costly. Make licensing your friend, and get the relevant approvals to use the works of others.

Sources: South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL); CIPRO; 99Designs.com