By Synne Skouen - Composer and writer 

Regardless of how we view the matter, the artist can only trust and live off his or her ability to work each day!

(Aftenposten, Kultur, Page 2, 15 June 2009)

At the same time as The Pirate Party in Sweden celebrates its entrance into the EU Parliament, a group of musicians, lawyers and authors from countries such as Vietnam, China, Nepal, Mauritius, Kenya, Nigeria and Argentina are studying at a hotel in Oslo how to run efficiently copyright management societies in their own countries.

The worries expressed by one of the African delegates that I spoke with are well-known for all who deal with authors’ rights: How can she, the lawyer, get the young musician to understand that it is not smart to sell ones rights to the tune which has become a local hit for a small sum and a chance to get TV exposure? 

Because maybe exactly this tune may be on its way out into the world, and in that case, everyone else will make money off the tune except the musician.
How old-fashioned is a problem of this kind, really?

Creativity
Some years back I travelled by buss along the Nile, from Alexandria to Cairo, passing by endless rows of slum houses. But they all had satellite dishes. Not everyone has access to the Internet yet, but the distance to the entertainment industry is not far. The 18 year old son of the lawyer I mentioned had already seen a pirated copy of the latest American movie on the net, even before she had had a chance to read about it.

It is therefore impossible to conduct a training program on management of authors’ rights without speaking about e-commerce and strategies in regard of illegal file-sharing.
This explains why the three-week long program uses experts from Norway as well as other countries, and why it is supported by the Foreign Ministry, Norad and the Ministry of Culture, and why it is organized jointly by the international body WIPO and the new Norwegian creation Norcode. Norcode is simply co-operation between the Norwegian copyright management societies Kopinor, TONO, Gramo, Norwaco and BONO with solidarity as the aim.

Recently, at its annual meeting, the Composers’ Society decided to subtract a solidarity tax from each member’s income from TONO for the benefit of Norcode’s work. Why in the world is such an act deemed necessary? Why do I for my part find my place on Norcode’s board as my most important position?

In the discussion on file-sharing the notion of Robin Hood often turns up. Those who steal on the Net, steal somehow from the rich moguls who anyway get rich on the back of the musicians, so it really does not matter all that much.

It is true that there are contradictions between artists and producers, also within the copyright management societies, and in particular in countries where the producers are big, strong and multinational. Because, however we look at it, the artist can only trust and live off his or her capacity to work each day!

In recent years we have seen a new development where artists, across national borders and organizations, have found a need to strengthen their co-operation, not the least in connection with lobbying in Brussels. The EU has severely messed up the situation within the already chaotic on-line area for instance in regard of music, eagerly wanting to satisfy all parties. From that angle the Swedish Pirate Party will be coming home.

In this situation artists and producers in small, marginal countries know that co-operation is what counts now, with each others and across the globe. That is also the reason why the lively but composed, cross-continental group of fighters for authors’ rights, which just now are in Oslo, has our full attention.

(Translated by John-Willy Rudolph)

The Norwegian version of this article can be found at Aftenposten’s pages.

Synne Skouen (Photo: Ellen Lande Gossner)