{"id":34845,"date":"2025-10-03T16:10:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T08:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/?p=34845"},"modified":"2025-10-03T16:32:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T08:32:42","slug":"copyright-tribunals-landmark-ruling-against-music-authors-copyright-protection-berhad-macp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/copyright-tribunals-landmark-ruling-against-music-authors-copyright-protection-berhad-macp\/","title":{"rendered":"Copyright Tribunal\u2019s Landmark Ruling Against Music Authors\u2019 Copyright Protection Berhad (\u201cMACP\u201d)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Royalty Transparency in Malaysia: Copyright Tribunal\u2019s Landmark Ruling Against Music Authors\u2019 Copyright Protection Berhad (\u201cMACP\u201d).<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abdulkarim Al Ali (\u201cthe Applicant\u201d<\/strong>), the composer of the hit song\u00a0\u201cCasablanca\u201d<\/em>, believed his royalty payments from Music Authors\u2019 \u00a0were far too low compared to the song\u2019s success. Despite repeated emails, MACP did not provide clear answers or timely adjustments to his royalty share. Feeling stonewalled, the Applicant brought the matter before the Copyright Tribunal (\u201cthe Tribunal<\/strong>\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To resolve the dispute, the Tribunal carefully considered each issue raised and delivered a set of rulings that directly addressed the concerns of both parties. Instead of focusing on technicalities or procedural hurdles, the Tribunal emphasised fairness, access to justice, and transparency for creators. The following table summarises the\u00a0Tribunal\u2019s key rulings and their implications\u00a0for Abdulkarim and, more broadly, for all MACP members:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NO.<\/strong><\/td>THE TRIBUNAL\u2019S RULINGS<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
1.<\/td>Jurisdiction Confirmed\u00a0\u2013 <\/strong>The Tribunal ruled that it does have power under Section 59C of the Copyright Act to hear royalty disputes. A composer does\u00a0not need MACP\u2019s consent\u00a0to bring a case.<\/td><\/tr>
2.<\/td>Bad Faith Allegation Dismissed<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 MACP\u2019s claim that the Applicant filed the case for tactical or improper reasons was\u00a0irrelevant. The Tribunal stressed it exists as an\u00a0accessible forum for all members, regardless of motives.<\/td><\/tr>
3.<\/td>Late Evidence Allowed<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Even though the Applicant submitted some evidence late, the Tribunal accepted it because it was\u00a0relevant to the dispute\u00a0and MACP had the chance to respond. This ensured\u00a0fairness and justice.<\/td><\/tr>
4.<\/td>Transparency Gaps Found<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Although MACP has a distribution policy, the Tribunal found\u00a0serious shortcomings\u00a0in clarity and transparency. It ordered MACP to\u00a0provide detailed royalty breakdowns, prepare a\u00a0Transparency Report, and\u00a0pay any outstanding royalties\u00a0owed.<\/td><\/tr>
5.<\/td>Confidentiality Not a Barrier<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 MACP\u2019s reliance on confidentiality rules and PDPA was rejected. The Tribunal ruled that members have a\u00a0right to clear royalty information and may even\u00a0request an audit\u00a0if they suspect errors.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is considered a\u00a0landmark decision\u00a0because it shifts the balance of power between individual creators and big organisations like MACP. In simple terms, it means that\u00a0songwriters and composers don\u2019t need permission from MACP to challenge royalty payments. The Tribunal also made it clear that\u00a0creators have a right to see where their money comes from and how it is calculated, with the option to demand audits if needed. For all copyright owners, this ruling sets an important precedent: you are no longer left in the dark about your royalties, and you have a direct path to hold CMOs accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cases like this show that creators and businesses don\u2019t have to stay silent when faced with unclear payments or unfair practices.\u00a0At\u00a0Pintas IP Group<\/strong>, our dedicated Intellectual Property (\u201cIP<\/strong>\u201d) team has\u00a0over 20 years\u2019 experience\u00a0safeguarding creators\u2019 work and maximising the value of copyrights, trademarks and other IP assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Need detailed, tailored advice on protecting and enforcing your copyright or other IP rights? Schedule a complimentary consultation with us today\u00a0and discover how we can help you protect your work and maximise its value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Quote Now<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Schedule a FREE consultation<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Whatsapp Us<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Royalty Transparency in Malaysia: Copyright Tribunal\u2019s Landmark Ruling Against Music Authors\u2019 Copyright Protection Berhad (\u201cMACP\u201d). Abdulkarim Al Ali (\u201cthe Applicant\u201d), the composer of the hit song\u00a0\u201cCasablanca\u201d, believed his royalty payments from Music Authors\u2019 \u00a0were far too low compared to the song\u2019s success. Despite repeated emails, MACP did not provide clear answers or timely adjustments to […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":34846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pintas-ip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Website-Article-Photos-2023-1920-x-1080-px.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintas-ip.com\/cn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}