Arrangers’ Music Royalties Return to National Assembly Audit After 5 Years

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Audit Scheduled for Next Month 7th
KOMCA President Lee Siha Summoned as Witness
Cho Jeongchi, Chung Kyungchun and Others to Attend as References
Verification of Actual Arrangement Usage to Be Central

Jungha Park, Chair of the Subcommittee on Sports and Tourism Legislation of the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, is presenting the bills to be discussed at the subcommittee held last November in the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee’s small meeting room in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Choi Huieong, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is responding to members' inquiries at the plenary meeting of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee held at the National Assembly last March. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

Overview of the Korean Music Copyright Association (KOMCA). KOMCA

The controversy over how to distribute copyright fees to arrangers will once again be addressed in the National Assembly’s audit for the first time in five years. While arrangements recognized as original works are protected under copyright law, in order to share royalties, it must be confirmed that the registered arrangement was actually used in a performance or reproduced work. During this audit, the verification process and criteria for distribution are expected to become major points of contention.

According to the list of witnesses and reference persons finalized by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee of the National Assembly on October 1, Lee Siha, President of the Korean Music Copyright Association (KOMCA), will appear as a witness at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s audit on October 7 regarding the issue of “undistributed royalties for arrangers.” Additionally, Tae Young Ko, director of the Korea Music Arrangers Association, Kyungcheon Jung, advisor to the association, and arranger Cho Jeongchi have been selected as reference persons. Both KOMCA, which collects and distributes copyright fees, and the arrangers’ representatives will present their views on the criteria for royalty distribution at the meeting.

The Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee has designated the “issue of undistributed arranger royalties” as a key agenda item for the audit. The way the distribution method has changed since 2021 is expected to be brought up again. The committee will look into the extent to which royalties are being shared with arrangers by field, such as reproduction and performances, on what evidence the actual use of a particular arrangement is confirmed, and whether the verification process has been improved following previous recommendations from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

If an arrangement is recognized as original, it is protected as an independent work. Article 5 of the current Copyright Act stipulates that a creation made by arranging an original work is categorized as a “derivative work” and is protected as an independent copyright work. According to the government’s legal information, arrangers—as well as lyricists and composers—are included as right holders for music copyrights.

The core problem arises in the process of dividing royalties. According to KOMCA’s distribution regulations, if the composer, lyricist, and arranger are all right holders, the respective distribution ratios are 5/12 for the composer, 5/12 for the lyricist, and 2/12 for the arranger. However, an arranger does not receive royalties merely by registering the arrangement; the arrangement must have been actually used to be eligible for distribution.

It is not easy to confirm which arrangement was used in the process of a performance or reproduction. Representatives of arrangers have long argued that arrangers’ shares have not been fairly distributed in the fields of reproduction and performance, unlike in broadcasting and transmission. KOMCA maintains that, since karaoke machine companies often produce their own music or orchestras perform new renditions during live performances, it cannot be automatically assumed that the registered arrangement was used as is.

The same issue was also discussed during the National Assembly audit in 2021. According to data submitted then by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the ministry had raised the issue of arranger royalties in work inspections in 2006, 2007, 2012, and 2016 and had requested improvements. At that time, Assemblyman Cheaik Lee’s office estimated that, by applying the arranger distribution ratio from the broadcasting and transmission fields to reproduction and performance, approximately 68 billion won in royalties had not been distributed to arrangers over a 10-year period.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.