Asian News 10/19

Karaoke Clubs Fined

China’s Audio-Video Copyright Association threatened about 100 commercial Karaoke TV establishments with lawsuits Oct. 13 for failing to pay royalties on music and music videos played in their rooms since January 2007, according to Beijinger.com.

In 2006, the country’s National Copyright Administration made new rules that required owners of KTV clubs to pay copyright fees to play music videos in their venues. Karaoke TV is a popular pastime in China.

The rules are being “tested” in the country’s three main cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Beijing.

The administration offered a discount on fees to any KTV establishment that paid its dues before the deadline, but apparently the bulk of the KTV parlors haven’t paid anything yet, prompting the CAVCA to make an example of at least 100 of them.

The China Daily said that the CAVCA sent out notices to about 300 establishments demanding payments, but only about 30 even acknowledged receiving it.

So far, only about 10 KTV parlors in Beijing have paid any royalties, the paper said.

Japan

Mehta Promotes Peace

Conductor Zubin Mehta received the Praemium Imperiale award in a Tokyo ceremony Oct. 15. The award honors people who have made long-standing contributions to the arts. It is worth about $143,000.

At a news conference Mehta held with the other award recipients the day before the ceremony, he announced his plans to perform a concert in the Kashmir area of India to bring together Hindus and Muslims, who have been fighting over the region since Indian independence.

He recalled that two months ago he put on a concert in Israel that was attended by 1,000 Israelis and 500 Palestinians. “And at least for those two hours there was a certain peace in the audience,” he said.