Assessing the Effectiveness of Collection and Distribution of Royalties in Collective Management Organisations in Ghana-

Abstract

This research assessed Ghana Music Rights Organization (GHAMRO) as a case study to determine the effectiveness of collective management organizations in the execution of their core mandate of collection and distribution of royalties. A collective management organization involves the collection of royalties from sources where copyright works are predominantly used for commercial purposes and distributing the royalties to rights holders. Following the theoretical framework of efficiency, transaction cost rational and risk sharing rational, a mixed method research was adopted to assess how effective GHAMRO has been in the execution of its mandate of collection and distribution. Data was collected from four categories of persons namely, board members, staff, members of GHAMRO and users of musical works identified by the researcher, literature review and other relevant documents. The research found that GHAMRO uses the partial reporting system which is based on sampling, that after the users are identified and assessment forms filled, officers of the organization approach such users who may be individuals or groups to negotiate with them on the tariffs and royalties required to be paid because there are currently no fixed tariffs. that GHAMRO uses the blanket licensing system which gives users permission to exploit any works in the CMO’s repertoire within the limits of their agreement. that tariffs of CMO’s in other African countries are considered in the development of its tariffs, that collection is done in compliance with the strict implementation of provisions as set out in section 36 and 37(2) of the Copyright Regulations 2010. The research also justified the hypothesis that if adequate laws and the principles of good governance play an important role in the proper administration of an institution, then when applied to Collective Management Organizations it should result in an effective and uninterrupted collection and distribution of royalties. The research, concluded that, GHAMRO actually is successful in the execution of its mandate however, one challenge that if when resolved will aid in more revenue collection is the need to operationalize the logging system which will allow for collection of data for actual work used. It recommended the implementation of the log in system, engage in more awareness creation, make information readily available to members, take steps to operationalize reciprocal agreements entered into, continue to operate within international standards to build its reputation and further research to draw larger samples to enable the researcher to apply the appropriate statistical tools and also generalize the findings.