The government is giving TONO and Gramo a total of NOK 40 million to compensate members for their loss of remuneration income as a result of the infection control measures.
/ 03/02/2021 / Willy MartinsenThe government is giving TONO and Gramo a total of NOK 40 million to compensate members for their loss of remuneration income as a result of the infection control measures.
The government announced today that NOK 165 million will be allocated for stimulation through existing measures and schemes in the cultural sector. as part of the stimulus and compensation schemes for the first half of 2021. Up to NOK 40 million of this will be paid to TONO and Gramo to compensate for members' loss of remuneration income.
– We are pleased with this news, which will have great significance for TONO members. Cancelled and postponed concerts and tours throughout 2020 will initially affect TONO payments directly now in 2021. The funds we will receive will be added to the settlements, and will have great significance. We look forward to further cooperation with the Ministry of Culture on this throughout 2021, says TONO CEO, Cato Strøm.
Read article in VG where CEO Cato Strøm is interviewed about the news
TONO has not yet received information about when the money will be transferred or exactly how large a portion of the 40 million will be added to TONO.
In the future, TONO will work to finalize a model for how the money will be specifically settled. TONO will not propose an application-based scheme.
TONO has on repeated occasions throughout the fall of 2020 communicated to both the government, the Ministry of Culture, the Storting and the Arts Council that TONO members' copyright income was excluded from the government's compensation and incentive schemes.
Culture Minister Abid Raja stated on 20 November that TONO had been heard, and that the government would initiate work to see how these losses could be compensated. TONO has been in direct dialogue with the Ministry of Culture since November.
TONO's chairman Jørgen Karlstrøm is pleased that TONO has been heard:
– We have had close and good dialogue with the Ministry of Culture over the past few months. We have presented detailed information about our losses, had regular dialogue and have discussed how this could be resolved. Today's news is very encouraging, and means that TONO members will receive far better TONO payments in 2021 than we had reason to fear based on our losses, says Karlstrøm.
Minister of Culture Abid Raja also emphasizes that the dialogue has been good in a press release from the Ministry of Culture today:
I am also pleased that we will be compensated for part of the loss rights holders have suffered in 2020 as a result of the loss of remuneration income, and would like to thank the collective management organizations for the good dialogue., says Raja.
Cato Strøm hopes the ministry will follow up on today's allocation through 2021.
– There is every reason to expect that 2021 will be as challenging as 2020. We expect little activity and low income from concerts, cinema, hotels and tourism, the catering industry and more. The crisis is by no means over, says Strøm, who To VG today, TONO emphasized that it is "... impressed by the speed of the case processing here. The Minister of Culture and the Arts Council deserve praise for having driven this forward."