Shenzhen KTV operators will not be required to pay higher royalty fees for at least 11 months, according to an agreement with the Music Copyright Society of China (MCSC).

This came as KTV operators in other cities protested a new fee standard, which is nearly 10 times the current royalty fee paid by Shenzhen operators.

In a pilot scheme unveiled Nov. 9 that will be trialed in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the MCSC, which collects royalties for musicians, and the China Audio and Video Association (CAVA), which collects royalties for video and audio products, set a royalty fee standard of up to 12 yuan (US$1.5) per KTV room per day.

Most Shenzhen KTV operators now pay 0.072 yuan per square meter in royalty fees to the MCSC. That works out to about 1.4 yuan a day per room.

"The contract between MCSC and Shenzhen KTV operators expires Nov. 1 next year, and the new standard will not be imposed before that," said Chen Yan, the Shenzhen representative of the MCSC. But he said the MCSC and KTV operators would discuss the new standard before Nov. 1 next year.

The 12-yuan standard has met objections from KTV operators nationwide, who argue that the fees are too high, and that the two associations do not legally represent the copyright owners of all their music and video.

Tthe entertainment industry associations of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou are strongly opposed to the new fee rate. The CAVA and MCSC had hoped to start charging the new royalty fees in the three cities next year.

Shenzhen KTV operators had proposed to pay 0.086 yuan per square meter --- which is close to their current rate --- to the National Copyright Administration, but the plan was not accepted.

Zhang Xiaoqun, secretary general of the Luohu Entertainment Industry Association, said Shenzhen KTV operators would rather shoot music videos by themselves instead of paying the proposed royalty fee. "With the huge royalty fees, we can shoot any MTV," said Zhang.

Editor: Donald