Lobão calls for conspiracy against Ecad bill.

247 – Singer Lobão denounces an attempt at manipulation by a group of artists in the handling of the bill on Ecad. The Chamber of Deputies approved yesterday (9) the text of the bill that deals with the conditions for collecting and distributing copyright of musical works, however the parliamentarians made an alteration to the text, which returns to the Senate for analysis.

Read the information from Monica Bergamo, from Folha:

AGAINST
Lobão promises to mobilize artists against the proposed law aimed at providing greater transparency to ECAD (Central Office for Collection and Distribution), approved in the Senate, amidst applause from prominent figures in Brazilian Popular Music (MPB), such as Roberto Carlos and Caetano Veloso. "It's a small group, with representative artists, but far from being the majority. I'm from the class and I wasn't consulted," he criticized. "It's a coup."

DO CONTRA 2
The singer suggests that artists should also unite against payola (money paid by record labels to radio stations to play their artists' music). "If there's fraudulent revenue, there's fraudulent airplay as well."

Read the news article about the bill's approval in the Chamber of Deputies.

Deborah Zampier*
Reporter from Agência Brasil
Brasilia – The Chamber of Deputies approved yesterday (9) the text of the bill that deals with the conditions for collecting and distributing copyright of musical works, however, parliamentarians made an amendment to the text, which returns to the Senate for analysis.

Presented by the minority leader in the Chamber of Deputies, Representative Nilson Leitão (PSDB-MT), the amendment that altered the text determines the exemption from public performance fees for musical works in events of a philanthropic, public utility, charitable, or religious nature.

The bill's rapporteur in the Chamber of Deputies, Representative Jandira Feghali (PCdoB-RJ), attempted to prevent the amendment from being voted on, arguing that it had been agreed among the leaders that the text would be approved as it came from the Senate. According to her, the exemption from fees for philanthropic entities is being addressed in another bill, for which she is also the rapporteur, and which will be discussed in August.

“There’s no way to compare APAE [Association of Parents and Friends of Exceptional Children] with PUC [Pontifical Catholic University], it’s not the same criteria and they can’t be viewed in the same way. I commit to debating the exemption for philanthropic entities, listening to musicians, composers, and organizations,” said the congresswoman, shortly before the amendment was approved.

The bill changes how the Central Office for the Collection of Copyrights (Ecad) distributes royalties to musicians and establishes methods for monitoring the collection of these royalties. According to the approved proposal, Ecad will be overseen by a specific body and will have to provide accurate information about the distribution of funds.

The bill proposes reducing the current administrative fee charged by the office from 25% to 15%, ensuring that authors receive 85% of all royalties collected from the use of their artwork.

Another change concerns royalties withheld when Ecad (the Brazilian copyright collection agency) fails to identify the authors of the work. According to the text, the collected royalties can only be withheld for five years and, afterwards, must be distributed proportionally among the rights holders. This change prevents the money from being used to balance finances or pay awards.

* Mariana Jungmann contributed to this report.
Editing: Fabio Massalli