U.s., Japanese Publishers' Bodies Firm Up Ties

NEW YORK-In what is seen as a precursor to a continuing, in-depth dialogue, the U.S. National Music Publishers' Assn. (NMPA) and its Japanese counterpart, the Music Publishers' Assn. of Japan, issued a joint communiqu March 8 that addresses three key points of common interest between the two groups.
The communiqu was released after the organizations met in Maui, Hawaii, during the NMPA board's annual international gathering.
NMPA CEO Ed Murphy tells Billboard that the communiqu is a symbol of stronger ties between the U.S. and Japanese associations, which represent the No. 1 and No. 2 markets in the world, respectively.
Murphy says that while the two groups had "very productive" and broad discussions, a key reason the meetings were held was to discuss the introduction of legislation by the Japanese government to end the longstanding monopoly on music-copyright royalty collection and distribution held by the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers, and Publishers (JASRAC) (Billboard, Feb. 26). JASRAC collects both mechanical and performance royalties, while the NMPA's Harry Fox Agency is solely a mechanicals collector.
Murphy says, "The last time we met under similar circumstances was about eight years ago on the issue of home recording. Since then, of course, there has been a number of developments, especially the creation of new products out of Japan, including hand-held devices [that play downloaded music]. E-commerce is a waking giant in Japan. The [initial public offerings] there now are similar to what started two years ago in the U.S."
Murphy says he'll be making a visit to Japan in the near future to meet with legislators and music publishers to help them "understand copyright relations."
The complete communiqu states the following:
- Both organizations represent the music publishing industry in their respective countries (U.S. and Japan). Directors representing each organization shall conduct meetings on a regular basis to exchange relevant information for the purpose of mutually strengthening copyright protections.
- Both organizations believe that the protection of music copyrights and neighboring rights is an important issue for online distribution of music. We will exchange necessary information and cooperate in addressing these issues.
- Both organizations express concerns regarding the potential loss of revenue from private copying and a result of technological development and from diminished protection of musical copyrights and neighboring rights. We address these concerns in implementing legal and technological measures.