A section of Ugandan Musicians under their umbrella organization Uganda musicians association on Tuesday petitioned the speaker seeking for the effort in the operationalization of the copyright law.
In their petition presented by Sophie Gombya They cited the use of their songs as Caller Tunes by telecom companies, which end up taking 80 per cent of the proceeds. The musicians add that the 20 per cent is then shared by producers and middlemen.
George Bush Kagoda, also known as Producer Bushington the association spokesperson, requested that the proceeds should be shared at a 60-40 per cent rate in order to give artists an opportunity to benefit from their talent and skill.
He said: “Corporate companies aren’t endorsing Ugandan musicians anymore and they are endorsing foreign parties. They aren’t investing money in Ugandan concerts anymore but they are investing in foreign artists. We as musicians, we are ambassadors of the nation, we want the government to help us develop our industry.”
The group also wants the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to be in charge of drawing the statutory instrument and put in place regulations of the Copy Rights laws to govern the music industry instead of having the duty under the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
Kato Lubwama (Rubaga South) asked parliament to prevail over the Uganda Communication Commission to enforce local content for Uganda musicians on radio and television while playing music.
“We have a problem of the influence of other countries which are interfering with the music of this country. We have a problem with Nigerians because they have a lot of money, they come around and pay the televisions and radios to play their music,” said Lubwama.
He added; “We have a rule here that the media should play 70% promoting local content in this radio and we have failed. We are being attacked by the western cultures are taking our slots. We are losing the grip, culture, identity, superstars are crumbling. Parliament should come in and tell UCC to do the things it is supposed to do.”
The speaker promised to summon the line ministry to explain why copyright law is still not functional.
She also commended the local musicians for working hard and out-compete the foreign musicians on Uganda market and she promised to summon UCC to look into the matter.
