The Cultural Affairs Ministry and the Trade and Commerce Ministry are seeking international best practices that could be adopted in Sri Lanka, amid discussions to establish a collective management organisation (CMO) – a non-profit entity that manages copyright and related rights on behalf of creators such as writers, musicians, and artists – for singers.

This comes as there is currently no central mechanism in Sri Lanka to collect royalties for singers and performers.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, Deputy Cultural Affairs Minister Muneer Mulaffer said that the Trade and Commerce Ministry, together with Cultural Affairs Ministry officials and members of the Sri Lankan Singers Association, had held fruitful discussions on establishing a CMO for singers and performers in Sri Lanka.

“They have requested the establishment of a CMO. We will be seeking international examples where royalty collection is done and will gradually seek the opportunity to address the concerns of singers in a manner that causes no prejudice to any party,” he said.

In Sri Lanka, although there is a CMO for lyricists and composers, the Association of the Creators and Publishers, which collects royalties for lyricists and publishers, there is no such central mechanism for singers and performers.

The Association of the Creators and Publishers requested President Anura Kumara Dissanayake earlier this August to establish a similar mechanism for singers and performers.