Exactmobile and NORM agree on music royalties

15 Dec 2008

Exactmobile and NORM, the National Organisation for Reproduction Rights in Music in Southern Africa, have announced a settlement deal which will conclude the dispute between the two parties. The two companies have reached a good faith agreement which covers their dispute on the payment of royalties, both past and future.

NORM has confirmed that they will be dropping all legal action against Exactmobile.

The dispute concerns the rate of payment of "mechanical" royalties, paid by music sellers to the composers of the works, as administrated by NORM. The rate has been hotly debated over the past three years within South Africa between NORM and a large number of service providers.

The parties have agreed to a back payment in settlement of the dispute going back to 2006. The parties have also signed a new agreement going forward, granting Exactmobile a license to make the copies (reproductions) it needs to sell digital music, amongst other rights granted.

"We are very pleased to have reached a new agreement with Exactmobile," commented John Fishlock of NORM. "We have settled on a rate which NORM regards as fair and equitable and meets our international guidelines ensuring that our members are properly compensated. With the conclusion of this agreement, NORM looks forward to a prosperous and mutually beneficial working relationship with Exactmobile."

"We are pleased to have concluded this matter amicably," commented Davin Mole, CEO of Exactmobile. "It is important to us that all artists and composers are fairly compensated for their work. It is equally important that we, as content sellers, are offered models by the industry which allow for sales to increase and the digital music industry in general to grow."

"The new license granted to Exactmobile is a model which will allow us to change with the times," continued Mole. "Ultimately it is this flexibility that we were after. This new arrangement will allow us to create dynamic pricing models and to compete in a very tough marketplace."

The new agreement between Exactmobile and NORM will set a new standard for the South African digital music sellers, many of whom are not currently paying these royalties.