Why you Need MACP Licences
Licences
1. Music
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Music plays an important role in our lives. According to studies, music influences our behaviour and habits during recreational activities, relaxation, outings and shopping. Businesses can use the power of music to give their customer a pleasant and enjoyable shopping experience.
2. Do you utilise music for your business?
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Music plays a significant role in businesses and can contribute significantly to create a positive customer experience and work environment. With the advent of digital technology, music that you bought and downloaded from iTunes, streamed from Spotify, Apple Music even via radio stations or even listening to purchased CDs can be enjoyed by your employees and customers for a stimulating environment that creates a positive outcome to your sales. However, you may not realise that the music been played need to be licensed accordingly.
3. When do I need to apply music licence for business purposes?
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When you bought and downloaded music, automatically you have purchased a licence for personal use in a non-commercial context. You are not required to apply for a music licence when the music users listen to their downloaded music on their headphones and the music is not been broadcasted or played in a public setting.However, the music been played publicly or in a commercial setting (office, pubs, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, events, etc.) in any medium (phone system, radios, TVs, disc, Bluetooth speaker, etc.) is illegal without a music consensus or licence.Once music been played in public, it shall assess as a public performance and you are obliged to pertain to a public performance licence from MACP. This licence permits you the right to play music for a larger audience.If you play music in the live or recorded version in a public atmosphere without relevant music licences, you are violating the copyright act and you shall be litigated for ravages.Under the Malaysian Copyright Act 1987, permission is needed from the copyright holders – generally, those who create, write and publish music – to play or perform music in public (broadly, this means in any other context than a domestic one). Obtaining the MACP licence permits you to use vast music commercially. This ranges from grassroots and independent composers to the most prominent names in the music industry.
4. How do music licensing works?
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Songwriters and music publishers generally authorise MACP to administer their rights in Malaysia. Our licences offer you a straightforward way to use a fantastic range of global music for your business or organisation usage. Without MACP, you would need to request direct permission and an individual licence from each music creator for every song that you wanted to use.A music licence is a certificate held by the music user who distributes and/or use copyrighted music commercially. Music licence commonly used in movies, commercials, television shows, videos and any other visual medium that authorise them to use music with permission. Sometimes, it requires an individual to hold more than one music licence as there is a variety of music licence available based on the music usage and its objectives.
5. How to obtain a music licence?
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Kindly visit our website www.macp.com.my and you can refer to our listed tariff. Each of the categories listed is based on the type of business nature and the cost are vary based on music used (for instance, music as background ambience, live music performance, etc.). If you have any further questions regards the tariff, our helpful officers are ready to assist you accordingly.
6. Public Performance Licence
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A public performance licence is needed when you would like to play music publicly and intentionally to be listened to by everyone else.
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After obtains your licence, you are highly recommended to submit GPL / DBM Usage Return Report to MACP. The forms is available for download at this link below:
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> GPL Usage Return Report
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> DBM Usage Return Report
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
Music Authors’ Copyright Protection (MACP) is a music performing right organisation which embodies the rights of songwriters to gather licensing fees from businesses that operate music for commercial reasons including karaoke, pubs, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, events, etc. These licensing fees are then dispersed as royalties to the songwriters accordingly. MACP has been operating as a licensing body in Malaysia since 1989 and currently denotes more than 2 million songwriters and their 15 million musical works worldwide.
A public performance of music refers to the music usage that takes place outside of the domestic space. Songwriters have the exclusive rights to play their music publicly and to permit others under the Malaysian Copyright Act 1987. These are known as performing rights and these rights were created to stimulate and motivate music creators to continue to create music without any fears of their work been played or copied illegally for commercial purposes.
Performing rights are the right to perform in public and communicate to the public consented under the Malaysian Copyright Act 1987. Music is performed in public refers to the music played in a public or businesses context where music is hearable to employers, employees even to the public. The action may be executed via radio, television, streaming platforms, music records, CDs, tapes, live performance, online platforms etc. Communication to the public means the transmission of music via wire or wireless to the public such as TV, cable and radio broadcasts, internet, ring tones, etc.
Yes, musical work is the intellectual property of the songwriters. The Malaysian Copyright Act 1987 protects songwriters’ interests, enabling them to receive fair compensation whenever their works are performed in public. As a part of the public, the business and event owners require the songwriter’s consent to play the music and that consent is granted by a music licence.
MACP offers numerous of music licence that covers the most type of business nature via our website. Just click on Apply Licence tab then choose your business category. Download the form, fill in the necessary details and email it back to us at licensing@macp.com.my. Once submitted, we will verify/check and you shall receive an invoice for your payment action. After payment is done, we shall issue a licence sticker to indicate that your business been licensed by MACP. If your business is not listed in our category, feel free to contact us at +603 6207 8638. Our officers are more than happy to help you.
A MACP licence provides you with a licence to entertain your customers, guests and employees with the world’s most broad music repertoire. It offers you the right to conduct any of the millions of musical works under the MACP repertoire. Whether your music is live, broadcast, disseminated or played via CDs, the MACP licence covers your performances. A MACP licence also saves tremendous time and costs of reaching each songwriter for consent to play their music publicly.
MACP regulates on a non-profit earning basis and does not make any profit on licensing fee. All fees (minus MACP’s operating cost) are reimbursed to our affiliated songwriters and music publishers in the form of royalties. Currently, practically 90 cents from every RM1 of the licensing fee shall go to our affiliated copyright owner.
It is practically difficult not to use music away from MACP’s repertoire as MACP protects widespread musical works composed by millions of songwriters worldwide. It comprises musical genre varying from rock, pop, electronic, soul, R&B, funk, country, Latin, reggae, hip hop, punk, traditional, folk, Bollywood even regional and religious music genre such as dangdut and nasyid to new age music such as KPOP and contemporary music, music played in TV programs and commercial jingles. Do visit our website www.macp.com.my for the list of affiliated societies that we represent internationally.
They did, however, their agreements do not authorise the performance of such TV, cable, radio broadcasts and streaming services to the public by businesses and other organisations. When such broadcast and streaming services are used for commercial purpose, the MACP’s agreement with the music provider does not comply with the commercial purpose and the business owners are required to obtain a MACP licence for commercial purpose due to separation of purpose for a music performance by music provider and business owner.
Although you have bought digital audio files, CDs or software, they are permitted for personal use only. There is a distinction in the law between owning a copy of the music and owning the actual songs that are played. When you buy an audio file, software, or CDs, even those specifically marketed for business purposes, the purchase price covers only your private listening use, regardless of how the files or recordings are labelled. Once you decide to play any copyrighted music publicly, you need permission from songwriters and in this case, they are represented by MACP.
Permission is not needed when the music performance is a part of face-to-face teaching activity at a non-profit educational institution. However, a music licence is required when music is used as part of training seminars, conventions, other commercial or business presentations
It is a misunderstanding where musicians and entertainers must earn a music licence to perform copyrighted music for their performance at business premises on behalf of the business owner. This is because the business owner obtains the ultimate benefit from the performances as for commercial value in entertaining their customers or guests. Therefore, it is the business owner’s responsibility to attain the music licence for the premise.
In section 13(2)(K) of the Malaysian Copyright Act 1987, it gives impunity to the usage of musical works by a non-profit organisation or club for charitable or educational purposes. This implies the event with no admission fee charged to the attendee. For further clarification, feel free to connect with us.
Music users who consume music for commercial purposes and do not retain a music licence are inflicting an offence under the Malaysian Copyright Act 1987. Wrongdoers are accountable to civil and criminal proceedings which may lead to injunctions, damages, fines and imprisonment. Therefore, if you are using music for commercial purpose at the moment or pondering doing it, kindly contact us for further arrangement. To protect our member’s right, we shall do everything in our capability with the principle of the Malaysian Copyright Act 1987.
In addition to MACP licence for the musical works, if you are playing recorded music and music videos, you are also required to get additional licences from Public Performance Malaysia (PPM) Berhad, the owners of the sound recordings who are record producers and Recording Performers Malaysia (RPM) an organisation represents recording artists and musicians who have equitable remuneration for sound recording performances.
You can obtain more information from their website at www.myipo.gov.my or contact them at:
The Director-General
Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MylPO)
Unit 1-7, Aras Bawah, Tower B, Menara UOA Bangsar,
No 5 Jalan Bangsar Utama 1,
59000 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan
Tel: 03-2299 8400
Fax: 03-2299 8989
Email: infocopyright@myipo gov.my