TONO is now granting a new temporary Covid-19 exemption for digital church services until June 1. This means that congregations that livestream church services only need to remember one thing when it comes to TONO: To report what is being performed.
/ 11/02/2021 / Kristian DugstadWhen COVID-19 hit in March 2020, Norwegian congregations could no longer gather for physical services. In this early state of emergency, TONO granted a temporary exemption from ordinary TONO licensing of digital services to encourage congregations to take advantage of the digital opportunities. The exemption was valid until July 1.
One year later, society is still characterized by infection control measures, and it is not yet possible to arrange ordinary church services. TONO is therefore re-introducing an exemption from ordinary TONO licensing for digital church services that are conducted as a direct replacement for ordinary physical church services.
– The world is not yet back to normal, and we see that the digital church services can currently hardly be seen as anything other than replacements for physical events canceled due to infection control, says Willy Martinsen, communications manager at TONO.
Read the TONO guide to live streaming music online here
The exemption initially applies from January 1, 2021 until June 1 this year, or earlier if it becomes possible to arrange ordinary church services again before that time. The exemption applies performance rights during live online church services, but also the synchronization rights when the video recordings of the services remain available online for up to one week after the event. This means that TONO continues the exemption that NCB gave to the congregations until December 31, 2020.
- It is very important that the congregations continue to report to TONO, because even though the congregations now do not have to pay for the digital performances until the summer, TONO is still completely dependent on receiving reports from the services so that the funds TONO receives from the Ministry of Culture can be settled with the rights holders who actually performed. We now have a digital reporting solution in the pipeline that will make reporting much easier than before, says Martinsen.
Since last spring, TONO has been in regular contact with both individual congregations and organizations within the church.
– TONO is in regular dialogue with congregations and organizations in the area. The contact is constructive and good, and we look forward to continuing the dialogue with the Church Council, dioceses, the Church Employers' Organization and other organizations with a view to entering into long-term framework agreements for digital church services when the world returns to normal, says Willy Martinsen.
The Church Council is pleased with the decision.
- We are happy and grateful for this and it will be well received in congregations around the country. We also have a good dialogue with TONO about the way forward from June 1, and not least about what is spent outside of church services and devotions, says Ingeborg Dybvig, communications director at the Church Council.
TONO was founded in 1928 and is a non-profit cooperative owned and managed by authors (composers and lyricists) and music publishers, and on their behalf manages the economic copyrights in the music they have created. TONO grants permission for the use of protected music, for example on radio, TV, the internet, concerts and cinemas for a fee, and transfers its financial results each year to the rights holders in music that has been played publicly. TONO has 35,000 members, but also works for approximately three million authors and music publishers from around the world. TONO's social role is twofold, on the one hand collecting and simplifying the licensing of protected music and on the other hand providing music creators with an economic basis for creating new musical works. In 2019, TONO had a turnover of kr 771 millions.
For more information: Willy Martinsen, communications manager at TONO, email: willy.martinsen@tono.no, tel.: 909 65 254.
On 12.02.2021 at 14:00, a fact box about reimbursement of remuneration was added to this text.