Prevent repeat of P Ramlee's hardship, review copyright law - Ismail Sabri

Amendments to the Copyright Act must be made for those in the film industry to be continuously paid royalties when their works are broadcasted, said caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said the rights and well-being of actors, producers, and directors need to be protected as they are not entitled to any royalties, regardless of how many times their works are aired.

When he was the domestic trade and consumer affairs minister, the incumbent Bera MP said the Copyright Act was amended to provide royalties to singers and composers.

“This needs to be looked into for the benefit of our film stars and we need to help them.

“Like the late actor P Ramlee who went through hardship because he and his family did not get any royalties although his movies have been repeatedly shown on television,” Ismail Sabri said.

“Like the movie ‘Mat Kilau’, the actors get a one-off payment for acting but in the next 100 years, when their movie gets replayed again, they don’t get anything,” he added.

He was speaking to reporters at an event at the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) in Ampang, Selangor, today.

Ismail Sabri reminded attendees, who were mostly from the creative industry, that an allocation of RM152 million will be channelled to Finas to grow the industry.

This will benefit its stakeholders, including investors, producers, exhibitors, distributors, service providers, and production teams, he said.

However, he said the various assistance and initiatives in Budget 2023 would need to be retabled in Parliament after a new government is installed.

“This means, the government that I led before this needs to be chosen again for the allocations set for the creative industry to be realised.

“Not that I’m putting this as a condition but I leave it to the attendees to do what’s needed,” he said in jest.

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