This week, the “raids” accompanied by the police during the concerts of Sertab Erener and Kenan Doğulu agenda it happened. In fact, this is not a new practice, and it is not dominant either. It is a way that music professional associations, to which the music owners are affiliated, have to use to determine which songs are being performed at that concert.
We are a country that has become acquainted with the fact that the copyright of the work of art, and that the artist who created that work should receive a copyright for each new performance of that work. Nevertheless, serious steps have been taken in this regard in a relatively short period of time, and are being taken. The copyrights of the authors are followed and collected by two professional associations, MESAM and MSG, and distributed to the right holders in Turkey. With the digitalization of music, it became easier to collect these copyrights from the music channels that emerged. Although there are big problems in this field, data that are fundamental in terms of copyright, such as how much music is listened to, shared and where it is used, can now be collected in a healthy way.
But things get complicated when it comes to non-digital music performance. Every commercial organization that uses music and makes music a part of its commercial activity has to pay a certain amount of royalties. This includes cafes, bars, hotels. In February, I made a meeting with Bülent Forta, the General Coordinator of the Associated Rightholder Phonogram Producers Professional Association, commonly known as MUYAP. reportanswers many questions on this topic.
Let’s talk about the concert raid.
Even though it can’t actually happen, the copyright issue in concert and live music has to work like this: The venue owner or the organization company has to pay a certain part of the concert budget, a small share of 6 percent, to music professional associations as royalties. Before the concert or event, the venue owner or the organizer must sign the Concert and Event Agreement and submit a list of the songs and folk songs to be played at that concert to these professional organizations. For example, if you are organizing a concert for a local artist in Balıkesir, it is a legal obligation to submit a list of the works that that artist will sing, whether they are his own or not. Again, as the venue owner or organizer, you (not the artist) are expected to transfer a small portion of the concert budget that I mentioned above to the copyright pool of MESAM or MSG. Thus, the artist whose songs were sung at the concert in Balıkesir, can get the royalties arising from owning that song, even if it is small.
The main problem is that this is largely not done. In this case, these institutions responsible for copyright have the right to send a detective to concerts, wedding halls, live music and event venues to document what works are played here. However, as far as we understand, some organizers are trying to prevent these determinations from being made by using many ways, including algebra. This is the main reason for these “raids”.
‘WE HAVE THE GOVERNMENT BEHIND, WE DO NOT COPY’
I called Recep Ergül, Chairman of the Board of MESAM, to explain the issue clearly and in a way that we can all understand.
Recep Ergül is uncomfortable with these detection efforts being referred to as “raids”. He says, “This is a step against the mafia-like attitude of some organization companies. These companies, which spend millions for a concert, avoid giving the rights to the rights holders of the songs performed there, which are small compared to these budgets. We even know that some of them say, ‘We have the government behind us, we will not give it’ while doing this. These works belong to Aşık Veysel, Neşet Ertaş, Mahzuni Şerif, Sezen Aksu, Selami Şahin… The raw material of a concert is a musical piece and we have to protect the copyright of this raw material and the rights of the artists. The copyright issue is a human rights issue. And frankly, we risked everything, including the threats.”
THEY THREATEN ‘WE WILL DELETE FERHAT GOCER FROM THE INDUSTRY’
“What threats are these?” When I ask him, Ergül continues: “For example, there are terrible threats to MSG President Ferhat Göçer, such as ‘We will not take the stage again, we will delete him from the sector’. Likewise, there are threats against me such as ‘We will delete Recep Ergül from MESAM’. Organization companies do this. We are exercising our right arising from the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works No. 5846. We invited them to the table many times, we tried to negotiate many times at the table, but they use front companies, they work under the stairs. Can you imagine that they put Yıldız Tilbe on the stage for 700-800 thousand liras, and money is spent on concerts. They sponsor the biggest companies, but while spending a million, they use every means not to give us the copyright of the artist whose works are told, 60 thousand liras.”
So why do police in places like concerts, weddings, festivals, where music and art are expected to dominate the atmosphere? According to Ergül, this is a last resort, but this is forced due to the attitude of the organization companies: “The legislation says that if individuals and organizations do not make a contract, you can file a determination lawsuit. However, they do not make us do this determination. When a license officer or a lawyer friend of ours goes, they do not attend the concert, they do not get a fix. We also have a legal right, in which case we can apply to law enforcement. We also use this right so that our friends are not attacked or hindered.”
Is it possible to monitor all concerts by detectives? If no determination is made, how can it be understood whose works the artist is singing? How can this be put into a system? Recep Ergül says that in environments such as concerts where improvisation and instant changes can be seen frequently, a 100% determination cannot be made and adds: “There is always a margin of tolerance for the songs sung at concerts. At that time, the artist wants to improvise, maybe it’s a request from the audience. If we are given a list of 80 percent of the program, that is enough for us. In Europe, throughout the civilized world, the system works like this: Before the artist goes on stage, he presents a list wherever he performs. However, one hundred percent loyalty to that list is not essential, of course. We do not give these lists. Not only do they not give the list, but as I said, they prevent us from making a determination.”
Apart from concerts, there are venues for weddings and live music. Is it possible to detect them? Let’s say a singer sings songs written by others for hours with his guitar and baglama in a place where live music is held. How can one be detected?
“Why not?” says MESAM Chairman of the Board: “We have been working on a software for one year. It has also been tested by CISAC. We will give it to other countries, especially Switzerland. Thanks to this software, all commercial enterprises where music is used are notified to the license center of the works played there. We want this software to be mandatory in venues where live music is held or in venues such as weddings and entertainment venues, which is the ultimate solution.”