Ringtone provider eXactmobile and a music rights organisation are headed for court in a multi-million rand battle over royalties. <\/p>\n
The National Organisation for Reproduction Rights in Music in Southern Africa (Norm) issued a summons against the provider in mid-August, and on Wednesday eXactmobile filed notice in the Cape High Court of its intention to defend. <\/p>\n
Norm, an association of music publishers and composers, said in a statement that it was asking the court for an order that eXactmobile "must cease infringing the copyright of Norm’s members" and pay royalties of 7.5% backdated to January 1 2006. <\/p>\n
It was also seeking R2 million in damages. <\/p>\n
John Fishlock, Norm board member and managing director of Universal Music Publishing, told Sapa that up to 2005, royalties on ringtones were charged as a fixed amount per download, with some discount on volume. <\/p>\n
He said that ahead of the expiry of that agreement at the end of 2005, Norm proposed a new way of calculating the royalty – as a percentage of the amount charged to consumers by mobile content providers. <\/p>\n
eXactmobile agreed to a 7.5% rate, then later reneged on the agreement and offered five percent, Fishlock said. <\/p>\n
Following this impasse, publishers and composers had received no royalties from eXactmobile, or any other members of the Wireless Application Service Providers Association, to which eXactmobile belonged, since January 1 2006. <\/p>\n
Fishlock said the difference in cash terms between the old and new rates was "substantial". <\/p>\n
The original per-download agreement had been a concessionary rate to help eXactmobile and other providers roll out their businesses. <\/p>\n
He said 7.5% was in keeping with international standards: currently the rate averaged at 8.2% of end user price in Europe. <\/p>\n
The Norm statement said that among the South African artists affected by the non-payment of royalties were Thandiswa Mazwai, Springbok Nude Girls, Freshlyground, Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse and Zamajobe. <\/p>\n
A switchboard operator at eXactmobile said the company’s manging director was not in the office, and that she did not know his cell number. There was no-one else she could put calls through to.<\/p>\n