Musician and Member of Parliament for Mawokota North Constituency, Hillary Kiyaga, also known as Dr Hilderman, has cautioned artists against celebrating the copyright management system.
Hilderman explained that the government cannot use the management system to charge radio stations, television stations, bars, and music consumers because the current copyright law does not permit it.
"The copyright amendment bill was brought to Parliament but has not been reintroduced. You cannot say you are going to use digital tools to monitor something that does not exist—they have started with something that is not yet in place," he explained.
Hilderman believes the government is targeting artists' support ahead of the election year, but nothing more.
He challenged the government to amend the copyright law for the benefit of artists if it genuinely cares, rather than hiding behind the copyright management system—something which cannot function under the current law.
"If the government genuinely cares about musicians, next week it should place a copyright bill on the order paper for its first reading," he explained.
The copyright management system was approved by the government, but it has received significant backlash from various artists, many of whom claim it cannot be implemented under the current law.
The system aims to register artists and their works, track music usage in bars and on media, specifically TVs and radio stations, and ensure that artists are paid for plays and to combat music piracy.
