Read TONO's consultation input to the Ministry of Culture regarding "regulations on temporary subsidies for cultural events as a result of covid-19"
/ 14/10/2020 / Kristian Dugstad
TONO is a cooperative owned and managed by composers, songwriters and music publishers, and which, on their behalf, manages the economic copyrights in the music they have created. TONO grants permission for the use of protected music on radio, TV, the internet, concerts, cinemas and in other public contexts for a fee. The company's financial results are passed on to the rights holders of music (composers, lyricists and music publishers) that has been played in public.
TONO members have been excluded from the compensation scheme
It is important to note that TONO's 35,000 members have been excluded from the government's compensation scheme for organizers and their subcontractors for cancelled concerts. This is despite the fact that TONO has been hit hard by the cancelled and postponed concerts. Our updated calculations show a loss for 2020 of between 50 and 100 million kroner (we are happy to provide the ministry with specific, updated figures). This will particularly affect TONO's concert settlement in the autumn of 2021 to a significant extent, as the money to be settled is taken from concert fees paid in 2020. We are concerned that this loss has not yet been compensated by the government. The new stimulus scheme will not solve this either, and is therefore something we believe still needs to be looked at more closely by the government. We invite dialogue on this. That said, TONO is positive about the new stimulus scheme. We do, however, have some suggestions for how the regulations can be better suited to their purpose.
§2 Purpose:
TONO mainly supports the purpose clause, but point b is not precise enough to ensure that TONO can have the opportunity to perform its social role, and ensure the rights holders their right to give consent to the performance of their music under the Copyright Act. The formulation “in accordance with agreements entered into” cannot stand alone, as TONO in very many cases has to approach concert organizers afterwards of completed events to draw attention to the fact that a TONO agreement must be entered into for the performances. We believe that a clarification that the parties involved also include copyright holders/authors will put this in the correct context.
TONO's proposal for a new wording of §2, b:
"To stimulate increased activity throughout the cultural event value chain through grant recipients complying with financial obligations to involved parties in accordance with agreements entered into, including remuneration to copyright holders in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act"
TONO would also like to point out that we find it somewhat strange that the Norwegian Film Institute should collaborate with the Norwegian Arts Council on the administration of the scheme, and to be involved in developing the guidelines for the scheme. For players in the music industry, this creates concern about whether our sector will be taken seriously enough under this scheme.
TONO also supports the input provided by NOPA and the Norwegian Composers' Association.
Cato Strom
Adm. Manager