TZ artists reap fortune today 

SEVERAL artists and content creators in the country will receive royalties today in Dar es Salaam.

This was explained by the Chief Executive Officer of the Copyright Office of Tanzania (COSOTA), Doreen Sinare during the two-day induction training for the Tanzania Music Rights Society (TAMRISO) together with artists and arts stakeholders.

At the event, Doreen told the members that following the laws and regulations amendment guiding the Copyright Office of Tanzania, they introduced Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) with responsibility for the collection and distribution of royalties.

She expressed her pleasure with the first CMO Company, TAMRISO, being licensed to collect and distribute royalties for music-related content.

“Today, royalties will be distributed to artists and content creators. On the other hand, we are glad to have the first CMO company, TAMRISO who will collect and distribute royalties for music-related content.

“We will ensure royalties are properly collected and artists get all their rights.”

The representative of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO), Amadu Bah, noted that the induction training aims to provide the fundamentals of collective management of copyright and related rights and seeks to pave the way for a successful transition from the Copyright Society of Tanzania (COSOTA) to the Tanzania Music Rights Society (TAMRISO).

“It is also envisaged that the training will strengthen the CMO to efficiently execute its mandate. This will be for the benefit of rights holders and users of Copyright and Related Rights.”

Speaking about the continental penetration of CMOs, he noted that since the mandate on copyright and related rights was received in 2002, there has been significant uptake of collective management systems in the ARIPO Member States.

He added that the number of CMOs had increased from ten in nine Member States to thirty across nineteen ARIPO Member States.

The TAMRISO president, Hermes Joachim thanked COSOTA and the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Sports for providing them the license. He added that this will help musicians attain their rights from their arts.

“We thank COSOTA and the Ministry for granting us a license to fulfil the collection and royalties distribution. We shall closely work with COSOTA to ensure we fulfill the responsibility we are entrusted as per the license.”

The docket Ministry representative, Leah Kihimbi, hailed COSOTA for organising an induction training for the TAMRISO and other arts stakeholders. She insisted it will directly impact artists’ lives in the country.