The next time you're at First Caribbean Bank, take note of the music playing in the background because for every tune you hear, every lyric sung, a musician is earning - maybe only a small percentage of a few cents, but earning nonetheless. It's the first time artists are being paid to have their music broadcast in Belize, and it's an agreement that First Caribbean Bank had reached with a group bscAp to license the music of performers. Jason Guerrero stopped by our studio today where he explained the importance of establishing this relationship.
Jason Guerrero
"They have now licensed to bscAp. We are a licensing agency and we represent our members who are composers, creators of music both nationally and internationally. Nationally we have about 60 plus members right and internationally we have thousands of members."
Robin Schaffer
"How much is First Caribbean Bank paying for this license?"
Jason Guerrero
"I am not sure if they want to disclose that, but I am sure I can say that its less than a fraction of a percent of what it takes to operate First Caribbean Bank."
"The point is that it's very affordable not only for First Caribbean but for any business that utilizes music. Anyone who utilizes music in the course of doing business is required to seek license with bscAp. That's anybody; that includes banks, hotels... we are looking at first the larger users of music and then we will gradually go down."
"The copyright act does set out penalties, yes, for those who are in violation. Let's say a business that continues to use the music and refuses to pay license. There are within the laws of Belize remedies that bscAp can seek for that."
biscAp has been using a door to door approach to educate the businesses on the copyright law, and they encourage other organizations to make an agreement with them.
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