Ahmad Dhani Reveals Invoice Royalty For Whitesnake Song, Kadri Mohamad: It's Not Performing Rights

JAKARTA - The upload of proof of payment (invoice) for royalties for the use of songs from Ahmad Dhani and the response of netizens to him, shows how the issue of copyrighting songs/music is still not understood by many people.

Meanwhile, the invoice in question is the use of the song Whitesnake entitled 'Stilll Of The Night' by David Coverdale and John Sykes by Dewa 19 feats of All Stars. The royalty value paid was IDR 55,153,896 (already included PPn 11%).

Dhani gave a statement, "Let's know the price of ROYALTI," in fact, netizens misunderstood. Many think that the invoice was the result of using the song at the Dewa 19 Feat All Stars concert at GBK, Central Jakarta on September 6.

"I want to ask, What is the effect of royalties like that, uncle? Does the capacity of the number of viewers and ticket prices affect too? I'm still learning a lot so I ask for enlightenment," said a netizen in the comments column.

The singer responded to the misunderstanding of the upload as well as a legal practitioner known as The Singing Lawyer, Kadri Mohamad, who said there had been misleading of information.

Kadri said the invoice was not proof of royalty payments for the use of songs at the Dewa 19 Feat All Stars concert which was included in the realm of performing rights, launching the use of songs for other purposes.

"It's clearly written on Invoice for (mechanical) reproduction and synchronization rights (visual audio doubling), and not performing rights," said Kadri via text message to VOI, Monday, October 27.

He explained that the title and information in the invoice itself had shown that the royalties paid were not performing rights.

"That price is indeed the price of market price for songs in that class for mechanical and synchronization rights," he said.

As for the payment of royalties for performing rights, said Kadri, it was carried out through cooperation between Collective Management Institutions (LMK) or the Collective Management Organization (CMO).

"The performance rights for the song due to playback and use for concerts in Indonesia" are carried out through a collection collaboration from LMK in Indonesia and international LMK, said Kadri.

"They have never done their own collection and are directly used for the use of performing rights in Indonesia," he said.

Performing rights is a right owned by songwriters, composers, or copyright owners to get royalties whenever their music works are performed or played in public (public).

Types of song usage that include performance rights, include: playback of songs in television and radio broadcasts; commercially playing of songs in public places; screening of songs at restaurants, cafes, hotels, malls, to nightclubs; use of songs at karaoke places, as well as the use of songs at live concerts or performances.

Performing rights is different from mechanical rights which are usually intended for physical or digital reproduction of songs, and synchronization rights which are usually intended for use in films or advertisements.

Meanwhile, mechanical rights is a permit to reproduce or duplicate song composition into audio, both physical and digital formats, to be distributed.

Included in the realm of mechanical, include: production of songs in the form of CDs, cassettes, or vinyl; sales of songs in the form of digital downloads; to re-recording or commercial-purpose cover songs.

Meanwhile, synchronization rights is the necessary permission to use song composition and align it with visual works or moving images. The main focus of this right is the integration of music as a soundtrack on audiovisual content.

The use of songs in the realm of synchronization, includes films, television series, documentaries, commercial advertisements, as well as video games or monetized online video content.