Is ZAMCOPS Effective?

A question that has been plaguing us here at IZUMB concerns the operations of our beloved copyright society ZAMCOPS. The Zambia Music Copyright Protection Society (ZAMCOPS) located at Anchor House, 9th FloorLusaka, Zambia is registered as a Society with the Registrar of Societies and as a Collecting Society by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in line with the Copyright and Performance Rights Act No. 44 of 1994.
It was formed by Composers, Authors and Publishers of music. Since inception, the organization has been managing Performing Rights of Composers and Publishers of music. The Society started collecting music royalties in Zambia in 1996 and started distribution of royalties to owners in 1998. The society has been growing steadily since then.

How does ZAMCOPS track radio spins in Zambia, and if they do are they effectively implementing the procedure? Are they transparent, do they let artists audit their books?

Those are just a few questions that come to mind the moment you hear the acronym. The Zambian music industry has been riddled with problems from the very beginning and our fore runners did very little to fix an industry that has the greatest potential to thrive. The recent scandals in the past that have rocked the copyright regulating body are still very fresh in the minds of certain individuals and we all remember the lawsuits that were filed against certain corporations where artists claimed they had been taken advantage of concerning call-back tones and the like. But at the core of this our beloved ZAMCOPS.

WHERE IS ZAMCOPS AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING?

The failure to police and maintain copyright laws in our country has led to severe and detrimental results, with an industry that is growing quickly but lacking direction and purpose. The lack of sensitisation on Music law has led to a whole generation of musicians who have little or know knowledge about important aspects of the music like royalties, copyright law, publishing deals etc.

That begs the question, .. If media houses are paying royalties and you have a bunch of artists who don't collect them (they know nothing about it) where does the money go? It seems the the tend of pocketing other peoples money has not bypassed the copyright body but has actually planted its evil disgusting roots deep where we might need the intervention of God if we are to see a difference. The corruption is appealing.We understand that Zambian musicians would love to know how their marketing endeavours are going, by at least having an idea of how well your music is doing on air, Numbers don't lie.

Do radio stations provide an updated Monthly playlist to the body for proper monitoring?
We've noticed the latest shift in radio procedure where we see the Dj/ presenter follow a pre-prepared playlist without adding there own music, and the rules are strict about it. Is that how ZAMCOPS  monitors spins? ... Do they have an application that quantifies the playlist data and gives accurate results? So much has been left un answered by ZAMCOPS and Zambian musicians have the right to know whats going for them to respond accurately and progress with the times.