Ten Karaoke bars in Beijing agreed yesterday to start paying royalty fees
to the China Audio and Video Association (CAVA), according to the liaison office
of CAVA in Beijing.
They will be charged 12 yuan (1.5 U.S. dollars) for each private room per
day.
Officials with the liaison office indicated the price might fluctuate.
Bar owners in other cities who signed contracts with CAVA before April 1
could have agreed to pay eight yuan a room.
Twelve Karaoke bars in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan province,
began paying the royalties in February, a month after the National Copyright
Administration (NCA) issued its order. It's the first time royalties have been
collected on behalf of artists, producers and copyright holders.
China's 100,000 Karaoke bars had revenues of 10 billion yuan (1.29 billion
U.S. dollars) a year and have been using vast libraries of music videos free of
charge for years. It's estimated the royalties will generate just 8 million yuan
(about one million U.S. dollars) in royalties.
CAVA, which is the copyright collective under the NCA, announced last
December it would charge Karaoke bars for using music videos beginning on Jan. 1
despite widespread opposition from bar owners. A rate of 12 yuan a day for each
private Karaoke room was set by the NCA on Nov. 9.
Karaoke bar owners, especially those in Guangzhou and Shanghai, have
boycotted the royalty scheme, branding it "illegal and
unreasonable".
