Television Broadcasts' long-time monopoly on the local pop scene is at risk of collapse as four major record labels representing some 40 pop singers - including Jacky Cheung Hok-yau and Eason Chan Yik-shun - threaten to bar the stars from appearing on TVB shows unless the broadcaster settles a copyright fees dispute with them before Christmas.
The labels - Universal Music Hong Kong (which includes Cinepoly, Go East and What's Music), Sony Music, Warner Music Hong Kong and EMI Hong Kong - revealed their plan yesterday, detailing the dispute between TVB and the Hong Kong Recording Industry Alliance.
The HKRIA was formed last year by the labels after they quit the International Federation of Phonographic Industry Hong Kong (IFPI). The dispute arose after the HKRIA decided to calculate copyright fees in a way different from that used in the IFPI days.
An industry veteran said TVB used to pay less than HK$5 million a year in copyright fees, but the HKRIA is asking for more than double that under the new calculation.
HKRIA chief executive officer Ronnay Botejue said the association began negotiating with TVB on the fees a year ago but TVB could not agree on how to calculate them.
Botejue said the HKRIA proposed charging copyright fees based on TVB's advertising revenue. According to international standards, he said, the charge could be between 0.13 per cent and 1.2 per cent of advertising revenue, and 0.6 per cent was a medium percentage adopted in Southeast Asia.
Botejue refused to comment on whether the HKRIA was asking for too much compared with the IFPI days, but he said the value of music had been underestimated according to many foreign court cases.