Audio-visual Copyright Management Association of China (ACMAC) has collected more than 80 million yuan ($11.73 million) in copyright payment from karaoke operators in the past two years, but none of the singers involved have received a penny. What the ACMAC has done is against the promise they made to protect the right of audio-video makers and singers, says an article in Yangtze Evening. Excerpt:

At the very beginning of its establishment, ACMAC became well known for suing many karaoke operators for violation of KTV copyright by denying copyright fees to those who owned the rights. As it turns out, a sizable amount, collected in the name of protecting the right of copyright owners, has begun to flow, at last in to ACMAC's coffers.

According to the constitution of ACMAC, it is empowered by National Copyright Administration to collect and transfer the copyright payments. Depending on the frequency, a certain portion of the fees collected should be allocated to copyright owners periodically. However, the association's practice of keeping the huge kitty collected for itself and denying the benefits to copyright owners, is a deviation from its original intention.

None of the related parties, including consumers, karaoke operators, record companies and singers, knows about where the money is and how it has been used.

With the huge amount collected as copyright fees in the hands of the association, it has increased the burden of common customers and karaoke operators. As a result, the first priority should be to audit the accounts of ACMAC to prevent the money from being embezzled or misused.

(China?Daily?May 14, 2009)