Pay up! Blacklisted for not paying royalties

Barbados has been placed on a negative watch list for its tardiness or in some cases refusal to pay entertainers from the United States for their performances of music.
The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the government watchdog for intellectual property issues, last week placed the island on the list for 2013, and also lambasted the Barbadian Government for not taking action.
“The United States is concerned about local TV and radio broadcasters in Barbados’ refusal to pay for public performances of music. The United States rights holders complain that both private and Government-owned broadcasters in Barbados either fail to obtain licences from the Copyright Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers Inc. (COSCAP) or fail to pay for all of the applicable rights even if they are licensed by COSCAP,” the USTR said on its website, where the list has been posted.
“In addition, even though the Barbados Copyright Tribunal was finally convened in 2012, it has not yet acted to determine the amount due to COSCAP pursuant to a 2007 judgment of the Barbados Supreme Court that found copyright infringement violations,” the watchdog said. 
The USTR is also urging Government to take all administrative action necessary to ensure that United States’ composers and songwriters receive compensation owed, without undue delay, for the public performance of their musical works. (BA)