Are there special copyright rules for yoik in line with Sami tradition?
Yes, TONO has special rules for copyright to personal yoik in TONO's administration.
Copyright protects everyone who creates musical works and other intellectual property, and is the basis for TONO's activities. The right is enshrined in Norwegian law through the Copyright Act, but is also protected through a number of international agreements, conventions and regulations.
The creator of an intellectual property owns it in its entirety. This right has been fought for for centuries, and TONO and other copyright organizations continue to fight to ensure that your rights are not diluted, every single day.
In very special cases, however, there are considerations that make it appropriate to deviate from the basic principle.
In the TONO context, there is one such exception: Joik.
Sami tradition
Modern copyright is not necessarily directly transferable to indigenous cultural expressions and traditions. In Sami culture, joik is more than a musical work. The joik can be an aural representation of an object or a person. It is then said that the joik is not about the person, but that the person is joking.
In Sami tradition, such personal yoiks belong to the yoiked, not the one who sings. composed The yoik. This is therefore different from copyright in general.
TONO therefore accepts that personal yoiks can be registered with the yoiked person as the originator, provided that
- The person who wrote the yoik confirms that the yoik is owned by, and should be registered to, the person who wrote it.
- The joiked is or will become a TONO member
- The personal yoik is performed publicly and may generate remuneration.