The Copyright Act
by
Oko Drammeh

The Registration
 From James Brown to Bob Marleyd Micheal Jackson ,  all major are in
consultation with the biggest lawyers in America to get their royalties
for unlicenced compositions. Many artist do not have agents and
publishing contracts. They make records without the right contracts in
advance. Most cases the composers need the money fast and they do not
want to wait for the sales and fair royalty shares. They prefer to sell
the tape and all rights to a buyer. Then they may not have the money
sufficient enough to run their own publishing house, so they will let
the record lose like a homeless child vulnarabul to any violation and
assult. There should be a music union that will register all the artist
and assign a paid-lawyer to manage their work. If you register your work
it will be legally yours for 50 years,and to be renewed.

The Artists must get protection!
After a record is made and release and there are no contracts signed,the
artists will not in a position to proof his position as an earner.This
is the Law.Without a readable and an understandable contract, no artist
should make a record. If you make the album, you need to administer the
life of the album. Each album is like a child and they have a life,well
being  and activities. The artists needs to pay for protection.This is
like hiring a bodyguard. This is business , it is not for free to get
information, protection and guidance.The artists need the right
education before recording and publishing their compositions.

Hire an Expert to see in the dark.
Our artists are  should be protected, the teachers, book writers, the
poets, the writers, the Misicians, the designers, batick designers,
painters,  and all other forms of artistic creative properity.Whenever
theytheir work is performed in public they get paid salary and
composition rights ( We have this office now in the Gambia) , on TV and
Radio showas,all in for pay (pay per viewand pay per peep).No recording
company will get paid if you are not registered in the global industry.
The major Record labels will not record an artist whose country do not
have a Copyright office.What you hear from the poor is totally different
from what they must do in terms of personal involvement and hire the
right agents to get paid. There is always going to be rumours but this
does not help. There are companies that can look after your music sold
over the counter and there are companies that can look after your TV,
radio and press rights. You need to know that and get involved without
delay.

The Music Business as it is.
This is how the artist get paid on one and every single CD sale: The
Artists (Elton John) gets 5.7%, The Songwriter (Norman Whitefield) gets
3%, The record label
( SONY, BMG, EMI ) gets 43% , Manfacturing company (Philips ) 7.3%,
Distribution company (Virgin Music group)  8.9%, The Record store (Tower
Records store) gets 31% , Manufactures suggested retail price is @
$17.99 cents per CD. You can only make money in this business if you own
a record label and a manufacturing plant. If you do not know how it
works please do not give the wrong signals of sarrow and symphaty. In
this business Africans and Gambian need to hire some experts to address
and manage this are. We dio not need a scarecrow. It does'nt count.

The Copyright
It is the duty of the artist to be affiliated to any copyright office in
Dakar, England or in the USA. In the Gambia we do (just recently) have
this office. One time the government sent onre Tijan Camara to Switzland
to study the copyright act and to set up the office so that the
government can monitorthis and impliment it efficiently. but there is no
art scence to drive the programme and resources to pay collect payments
and to pay the artists their dues.There is a mountain ahead.

The Art Scene
The Artist I produced on CD do not have any financial relations with
me'. I do not represent them. I only invite them to activities (my art
scene) and not to be a part of their creation. They need the schooling
and the right channels on how to register their work and to pay for
annual membership inorder to get information on the activites of their
creation.It takes two or three different companies to look after your
publishing world wide. I hope that you (the artist)  and the government
that will make the investment are committment of making sute that will
be the actual recpients of the wealth that their work generate.

DVD killed CDs and Cassettes
The Music business have changed. The way that video killed the Radio, is
the same way the the computer have change in the way we listen to music
and the way we can bmusic it. The artist can record at home and only go
to the big studio for mixing and editing . The DVD has more and cost the
same like a music CD. With the digital versatile disc you can have
movies and interviews and much more plus all the music on the CD. Who
wants to make a CD.Nowadays you can't send too much time on an album of
12 songs but on a single tune. The music business is like a telephone
company now. You buy time and down load the time you buy. This is legal
and it is the only way forward for artist protection. The technology is
friendly to the Music business and with the right set standards in place.

The futre for all Gambian artist is bright. Now there is a copyright
controll the artists and the Radio Station and TV stations will work
hand in hand.

As in Music, So in life""
Oko Drammeh

P/S: Few African Bands have DVDs. This is good time that Gambia can
INVEST and join the new technology race for the music business. It is a
new playing field.

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