27 May 2018

Copyright Society of Botswana (COSBOTS) is committed to collecting royalties on behalf of musicians, says chief executive officer, Lesego Selotate.

Selotate said during a Business Botswana market platform in Francistown on May 24, that COSBOTS was an intermediary between the users of music and musicians.

As such, he said they were focused on collecting royalties and protecting the rights of the artistes.

Selotate further noted that like international artistes, local musicians deserved to be remunerated through royalties for the use of their products with the help of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act of Botswana.

Since COSBOTS plays an  advocacy role, he explained that it was their duty to represent the principles of their clients, which in turn required COSBOTS to be as transparent as possible by  ensuring that local radio stations played their music fairly.

Selotate further highlighted that COSBOTS would hold entrepreneurship workshops for its members to teach them how to take music a career or business as well as to equip them with the right skills so as to be able to run their businesses successfully.

A local entrepreneur, Mooketsi Tekere had earlier on, asked Selotate what COSBOTS was doing to ensure that the music industry was a worthwhile career path for many and how the music industry could contribute to the economy of the country. ENDS