Sponsors snub JACAP

• No response to licence requirement letter campaign

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

LIME's 2011 Skool Aid concert on August 27 closed with the near standard Jamaican concert sign-off song, Bob Marley's One Love. Just under two weeks later, on September 9 Bounty Killer's Benz and Bimmer was played as the winners in Digicel's 'Summer To Di World' promotion tried out their new X1 rides at St William Grant Park, downtown Kingston.

Both events drew massive crowds and also featured live musical performances.

Then, in early September cable television, telephone and Internet service provider Flow announced a drive towards Jamaican programming at a function hosted at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel, St Andrew, many of the new programmes involving Jamaican music.

Musical mix

The telecommunications companies are among the most prominent users of Jamaican popular music in their promotional campaigns, not only as sponsors but actually staging events and carrying music content to subscribers.

Also in the musical mix are Diageo brands Red Stripe and Guinness, while a run-through of sponsors for many major parties and concerts quickly turns up the names of prominent companies, from media to finance and the automotive business.

And they should also be on the Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers' (JACAP) list, as the organisation reaches yet another stage in its very long drive to increase awareness of and compliance with the requirements for those who use music publicly.

Having tried over time to get event organisers compliant with the requirements, with limited success, JACAP is now turning to those who in large part fund the parties and concerts.

"What we are saying to the sponsors, starting with sponsors, because if you look at any one of these events, and you look at the names - you see the names on it. And the promoters are not licensed to hold the events. So we are saying to the sponsors, 'hey guys, uphold the laws of Jamaica. Have your promoter show you a JACAP licence, that they have been to JACAP, that they are licensed so this is a legal event'," JACAP's general manager Vernal Weir Jr said.

A JACAP handbook defines the organisation as "a membership organisation which collects licence fees from copyright music users and distributes the money as royalties to the music creators, that is the writers and publishers of music - the people who own the copyright (including the performing right) in that music".

It further states "whether the music is live or played on a tape/CD player, jukebox, radio, TV or karaoke and whether or not the performers are paid - a JACAP licence is a legal requirement".

However, the recent letter-writing campaign to sponsors has had a zero response rate.

Still, based on previous developments, there may be some progress. Steve Golding, former chairman of JACAP, pointed out "we have used it before, to limited success, because some sponsors actually included it in their remit to potential promoters. But that practice, unfortunately, has been discontinued. But as you can appreciate at this time of the year there are not that many of those types of events going on anyway".

"We are talking to the sponsors, the venue operators, the promoters of the events," Weir said.

"What we are saying to them is simple. There is the law," he said, reading out the applicable legal sanctions for infringement.

"Do we have to go that way? We shouldn't," Weir said.