CARNIVAL 2019 ONE-STOP SHOP

The National Carnival Commission of Trinidad and Tobago wishes to advise the public on its decision to invite all recognised music and ‘mas’ Collection Management Organisations (CMOs) to participate in the NCC One Stop Shop Carnival Registration 2019 initiative at the Grand Stand Offices, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain.

The NCC One-Stop Shop Carnival Registration programme is specifically designed toaccommodate all bandleaders (Junior, Senior and POS J’Ouvert) in obtaining and submitting the necessary documentation for participation in the Parade of the Bands 2019 and J’Ouvert 2019 in Port of Spain. This initiative is expected to significantly reduce the effort typically associated with visiting various organisations individually for documentation.

As it pertains to the CMOs, the three invited are the Copyright Music Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago (COTT), the Trinidad and Tobago Copyright Organisation (TTCO), and the Awesome Copyright Ltd.

The NCC’s decision to include all three is based on the Copyright Act of Trinidad and Tobago 1997 not restricting the existence/operation of multiple CMOs. Furthermore, the NCC has taken a firm stance this year on minimising copyright and intellectual property rights laws infringements through greater inclusion and the timely sharing of critical information.

Therefore, while all music license applicants are required to pay the respective agency and/or agencies that represents the music that they wish to use, all invited agencies are likewise required to have available, for easy reference, the lists of their respective memberships, and the specific rights they represent with respect thereto.

Applicants are strongly advised to insist on thoroughly examining these lists and ensuring legitimacy, in order to ensure, not only that they pay for the intellectual property music that they intend to use (as they MUST), but also to ensure that they do not end up paying for intellectual property/music they will not be using, or have no intention of using.

The NCC has every assurance that the accommodation of all three agencies in the One-Stop Shop will greatly facilitate that determination, and, in welcoming them, also looks forward to a successful registration operation.

The NCC One-Stop Shop Carnival 2019 Registration initiative will run for three weeks; beginning on January 23and concluding on February 13, 2019.