Monitoring agency signs royalty deal

Malcolm Kahn, the editor of MAMM: Very pleased that Dalro now offers a licence that enables media monitoring services to compensate the publishers. (Image: The MAMM website)

MAMM is the second media monitoring agency to sign this licence after the Professional Evaluation and Research Company (Pear) signed it earlier this year and said at the time it expected more agencies to follow.

In February, Dalro launched the licence on behalf of newspaper and magazine publishers such as Avusa and Naspers as well as publishers Juta and LexisNexis.

Royalty fees could significantly increase publishing companies' costs in gathering data for marketing and business intelligence.

It could open a new revenue stream for print media companies whose circulation and advertising income is under pressure.

'Pleased that MAMM has come on board'

"Dalro is naturally very pleased that MAMM has come on board. It is positive that publishers will be compensated for the use of their work in this medium, and provides encouragement that other media monitors will take advantage of the solution provided by the Dalro licence," Dalro business development manager Sarah-Jane Bosch said.

Dalro said in a statement it was delighted that MAMM showed eagerness to work with copyright owners to pursue its media monitoring activities within the ambit of the Copyright Act.

Malcolm Kahn, the editor of MAMM, said when he started his monitoring agency he was aware that royalties should be paid but was not aware of the process.

"I was very pleased to learn that Dalro now offers a licence that enables media monitoring services to compensate the publishers and no longer need be in breach of copyright laws," Kahn said.

Facing competition

Despite MAMM signing, Dalro still faces stiff resistance from other media monitoring agencies over the licence.

"Dalro continues to engage the various agencies and remains confident that continued discussions will result in more organisations signing up," Bosch said.

However, Dalro's licence faces competition from the South African Reproduction Rights Organisation, a rival agency that proposes an alternative licence model that is endorsed by the biggest media monitoring agency, Newsclip.

Licence holders pay a yearly fee of 8% of the income they get from articles sourced from publishers represented by Dalro.

Media monitoring agencies make money by aggregating content from newspapers and magazines on behalf of clients ranging from small public relations firms to large companies.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge