JAMCOPY to increase royalty payouts
Published:Wednesday | July 30, 2025 | 12:05 AM
Jamaican Copyright Licensing Agency, known as JAMCOPY, paid out $30.3 million in royalties at the end of last year to more than 900 rightsholders whose works appeared in print, the organisation reported at its annual general meeting.
JAMCOPY Chairman Dianne Daley-McClure announced a 50 per cent increase in royalty payout for this year, bringing the expected distribution to $45 million for the period ending December 2025.
Efforts to determine the payout for 2023 were unsuccessful. However, the $30.3 million for 2024 is more than double the payout of $13 million in 2018.
Established in 1998, JAMCOPY operates as the national RRO or reproduction rights organisation established by Jamaican creators of works published in printed form. These creators include authors (writers, poets, journalists, playwrights, photographers, illustrators, visual artists) and publishers.
Just over $359,000 was distributed for title specific payments to domestic rights-holders, while and $2.2 million title specific royalties paid to foreign RROs in the United States and the United Kingdom.
As at this month, 928 rightsholders were affiliated with JAMCOPY. This number was made up of 42 publishers and 886 creators.
This is an increase from 2019 when there were 810 affiliates: 767 creators and 43 publishers.
In her remarks at the meeting in Kingston, Daley-McClure reported that JAMCOPY has 39 bilateral agreements with RROs covering 44 territories across the world, including the United States, Canada, the UK, India, most Caribbean countries, as well as countries in Europe and Africa.
The chairman also reported that JAMCOPY now licences 39 institutions: two government; four vocational; 21 further education, inclusive of community colleges and teachers colleges; and five bible colleges.
The most recent licensees are Sandals Corporate University, Vocational Training and Development Institute and the Caribbean Military Academy.
With respect to payments to JAMCOPY by the licensees, Daley-McClure said “licensees have for the most part been compliant in paying licence fees in a timely fashion”.
She reported that over $134.1 million had been collected from licensees during the period.
She also noted that JAMCOPY’s largest single debtor, UWI Mona, had reduced its outstanding debt from $28 million last July to just over $478,000.
JAMCOPY’s plans for the future include integrating responsible use of AI in its operations, streamlining distributions to twice yearly, and increased collections and distributions.