KOMCA - How powerful is the Korea Music Copyright Association?

KOMCA was established in 1964 and is responsible for managing broadcasting and public performance rights as well as recording and mechanical reproduction rights of musical products on behalf of the owners.

KOMCA - Hiệp hội Bản quyền Âm nhạc Hàn Quốc quyền lực thế nào? - 1 — Blackpink's concert may be canceled due to copyright issues (Photo: YG).

Associate members who are significantly involved in the creation of the organization will be promoted to full members of KOMCA. They have the right to vote, attend annual meetings, and can be elected to the board of directors.

KOMCA became a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1979, joined CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) as an associate member in 1987, and became a full member in 1995.

Operating on a non-profit basis, KOMCA has licensed public performance, mechanical reproduction (hard disk printing, USB...) for more than 3,700,000 works and distributed accumulated royalties for repertoires owned by its members.

KOMCA is considered one of the largest music copyright protection organizations in Asia, with more than 40,000 members. Among them, many major Korean artists and music groups such as BTS, Blackpink, Psy, EXO, Super Junior... are all members of this organization. They are protected and have their music copyrights managed by KOMCA.

On KOMCA's official website, they list their collaborators, of which KOMCA's collaborator in Vietnam is VCPMC (Vietnam Center for Music Copyright Protection).

KOMCA is receiving attention from the Vietnamese media when the Born Pink in Hanoi concert was proposed to be canceled due to copyright issues of Blackpink's songs.

In a letter sent to the representative of IME company (the company that organized the music night for Blackpink in Hanoi ), the Chairman of the Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) said that he had signed an authorization agreement with VCPMC.

Accordingly, VCPMC is the only entity that can license public performance rights for all musical works in KOMCA's repertoire, including Blackpink's songs.

After hearing that Blackpink would be holding a concert in Hanoi, VCPMC proactively contacted IME about the copyright issue of the group's songs in Vietnam. At noon on July 28, the organizer of Blackpink's concert in Vietnam completed the copyright agreement with VCPMC.

On July 28, some Korean news sites also mentioned the difficulty in organizing the Korean music group's music show in Vietnam due to copyright issues. Insidevina (Korea) wrote: "One day before the Blackpink music night in Hanoi, an unexpected copyright infringement issue occurred."

The news that Blackpink will be performing in Hanoi at the end of July has become the focus of Vietnamese media and attracted the attention of young Korean music fans - Kpop. Blackpink's 2 concerts in Hanoi are expected to have about 67,000 attendees.

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