• Industry practitioner discusses copyright issues at the Seminar on Macau Music, Cultural and Creative Industries organized by MACA

    Music is one of the important elements  of  the cultural and creative industries.   To  promote  the future music development of Macao is MACA's top mission. In view of this, the Macau Association of  Composers,  Authors  and  Publishers  ( MACA ) held a Seminar on  Macau  Music,  Cultural  and Creative  Industries  on  October 23,  2010 at the  Macau  Tower  Convention  and  Entertainment Center, where over 50 industry practitioners attended.

    Guests attending the seminar include the  Macao  SAR Government Executive  Council  Spokesman and Vice-President of Macau Cultural Industries Consultative Committee Leong Heng Teng, CEO of Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong Ltd. Elton Yeung,  Hong  Kong  Renowned  Composer and Producer Chan Fai Young,  Hong  Kong  Gold Label Music Producer Gary Chan, Hong Kong  and Macau  Composer and Lyricist Joe Li,  the band Soler,  Hong  Kong  Singer  Siu  Fei and many of  the local singers.

    Ung Kuoc Iang,  Chairman  of  MACA said  in  his speech that in  recent  years,  many  of  the  great composers,   lyricists  as  well  as  singers  have  succeeded  in  promoting  their  music  business  to overseas markets,  these are  evidenced  by a lot of success stories.  The seminar’s  objective  is  to communicate with the industries associates, as popular music is still finding its way in Macau.  The market of  Macau is limited and  MACA’s aim is to arouse the consensus among the practitioners.

    According to Ung, the most critical issue facing the creative industry is the copyright law, which is a legal right governed and established to protect the interests  of  the owner  of an  original  work; and it is a intellectual  property  right  exclusively  controlled  by the  relevant  copyright  owner.  If copyright  is  adequately   protected,   creativity  in  a  community,    and  in  turn  its  culture,   will  be encouraged and promoted.   MACA since its establishment a year ago, received support from a number of Government Departments, Public Utilities Companies, Large International Brands, they have obtained licenses from  MACA  and  pay royalties in order to perform their works.   It reflects that  the  territory  not  only supports the copyright law,  but also accelerates the development of the industries in Macao.

    Ung also  thanked the  support  of  the  Macao  SAR  Government,  especially the  Culture  Industry Consultative Committees Vice-President Leong Heng Teng, and its affiliated associations, CASH for attending  the  seminar.   In  future,     MACA  will  continue  to  promote  awareness  of  copyright  in Macao and strengthen the public's respect on music, so as to promote the cultural creativity for the next generation.

    The affiliated society of MACA, CASH CEO Elton Yeung was invited as a keynote speaker during the event to explain the operation of CASH and Music Copyright Management issues. While the other two speakers;   including  Hong  Kong  Gold  Label  music  producer  Gary  Chan  and composer and lyricist Joe Li,   have exchanged  their  views  with  the  participants  on  how  to  develop the music industry of Macao, strengthening the awareness of music copyright, and how to promote Macao's potential artists and composers to the neighboring regions.

    During  the   Q&A  session,   through  the   comprehensive   interaction  among  the   speakers  and audiences,  the participants discussed about the future development of   Macau’s music industries and copyright issues.

    MACA has been committed to promoting the  music  and providing  music  copyright  information, seminars will be arranged  from time to time in  future to  enhance the public’s  understanding  of copyright and related application knowledge.