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Copyright & Music
Introduction The Copyright Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers Incorporated (COSCAP) is a non-pro?t making membership organisation representing, the performing and reproduction rights in music of composers, authors and publishers, and the related rights of performers and producers of phonograms and videograms. It was established in 1997, and was initially called the Barbados Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers (BACAP), changed its name to COSCAP in 1999. In terms of payments to writers, for the top three writers, there was a signi?cant increase in earnings primarily re?ecting the impact of incoming royalties from overseas, mainly the United Kingdom, which remains an important source of revenue for local creators. It should also be noted that whilst the writers composing the top ten list does not vary little, based on the size and activity of the writer’s catalogue locally and internationally, the top writer of 2010 was a relatively new entry. Unlike the case with related rights, for copyright there are multiple distributions including two broadcast and general distributions covering January to June and July to December and these payments include payments received from broadcast, hotels, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs etc. as well as separate distributions for major live performances, Crop Over and incoming foreign royalties.
In 2004, the Directors of COSCAP together with the Directors of the Caribbean Related Rights Association (CARRA), which at the time represented the related rights of performers and producers of phonograms, decided that the conditions within the local marketplace warranted one collective organisation only. As a result, As with other CMOs in the region, COSCAP is a net exporter of CARRA dissolved and COSCAP expanded its mandate to include royalties except for the Crop Over distribution which re?ects a high related rights. level of local music use and major live events held during the Crop Over season which feature local music. The net export of royalty The organisation presently has 753 unique members (this does not may also re?ect the effectiveness of collections for Barbadian creators take into account membership in multiple categories: songwriters, in foreign markets. music publishers, performers and producers of sound recordings). Membership The membership of COSCAP consists of songwriters (lyricists and composers), music publishers, performers and the producers of sound recordings. The organisation has been experiencing strong growth rates in all categories of membership since 2000 however, perhaps not surprisingly, the largest category of membership is in related rights, that is, performers and producers (labels). Nonetheless, there has been vibrant growth in all categories for both copyright and related right.
The Distribution of Royalties There are two distributions annually for related rights covering January to June and July – December. In spite of some challenges with receivables, there was an increase in the royalties paid to producers and performers in 2010 compared with 2009.
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Volume 2 January - March 2011