Writers get their due - JAMCOPY pays out $3.3M in royalties

The Jamaican Copyright Licensing Agency (JAMCOPY) last Tuesday commenced the disbursement of $3.3 million in royalties to 205 Jamaican creators and publishers of printed material.This is the sixth disbursement of royalties from the repertoire pool to affiliated creators and publishers of JAMCOPY. These royalties are derived from the licence fees received from the Government of Jamaica for the Public Sector Photocopy Licence.

In 2001, the Government of Jamaica signed the first Copyright Licence with JAMCOPY and thereby demonstrated its compliance with the Jamaica Copyright Act. The licence gives public-sector employees, ministers of government and members of parliament, legal access to a vast array of copyright material and permits them to legitimately make copies of portions of copyright-protected works published in print.

Since then, JAMCOPY has continued on the path of seeking to have educational establishments and copy shops in full compliance with the Copyright Act and in conformity with international best practice.

Eighteen tertiary educational institutions are now licensed. Distribution of royalties from licence fees received from tertiary institutions will take place in 2011.

Landmark agreement

The most recent tertiary institution licence was signed by the Council of Community Colleges of Jamaica (CCCJ). This landmark licensing agreement brings the council's operations, and that of the eight community colleges which it administers, into compliance with the Jamaican Copyright Act for the first time. In signing the agreement with the executive director of the Council of Community Colleges, Cebert Adamson, the chairman of JAMCOPY's board of directors, Mark Thomas, hailed the JAMCOPY licence as good news for the students, lecturers and administrators of the nation's eight community colleges. "These students will now be able to make legitimate copies from image and text-based copyright material published in Jamaica and 30 other countries," remarked Thomas.

"The signing of this licence agreement by the CCCJ speaks to the increasing recognition and awareness of the importance and value of the creative industries to national economic and cultural development," he added.

The Jamaica Copyright Act specifically requires institutions of learning to enter into licensing arrangements for the reproduction of copyright material for use in the teaching and learning process.

Primary and secondary level schools have no exceptions or allowances for making copies of copyright material. JAMCOPY has been in negotiation with the Ministry of Education since 2006 for a licence to permit legal copying in schools. The negotiation is still continuing.

With regard to tertiary institutions, they are only permitted to copy five per cent of a published work per quarter without prior authorisation from rights holders, but only if no licence is available. JAMCOPY is the national reproduction rights organisation and the licensing body from which licences for the reproduction of printed material is available.

JAMCOPY represents the interests of Jamaican creators and publishers of literary, artistic, musical, and dramatic works that are disseminated in print formats in Jamaica and the world. The works of Jamaican rights holders, as well as rights holders from 30 other countries, including the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, make up JAMCOPY's growing repertoire.