The sponsors and conveners of the Metro TV/BUSAC Copyright seminars series deserve great thanks and mighty acknowledgement from the musicians especially recording artists.

However, they stand in need of correction that as much as 90 per cent of copyright society earnings come from the users of musical recordings. The term copyright refers to rights, morals as well as financial accruing to owners of intellectual property.

The term intellectual property is in fact a misnomer but by implication it is reasonably appropriate to describe certain creations which come from the sole efforts of a particular individual or group of individuals, out of his or their ingenuity or wit as a property of theirs, and since most of these properties are intangible or emanated as a blue print they deserve to be described as intellectual or coming from a mental origin.

If an architect designs a mansion for you, you certainly pay him for the design on contractual terms agreed between the two of you.

The architect has no control over the design again, nor the building after its construction, nor whether the man who ordered for the design resells it.

But it is his moral right that whenever the design is referred to or any merits are accorded to it, the honour must be given to him. In order not to lose this right, a copyright law exists in most countries spelling out the financial, moral and mechanical rights of various categories of intellectual property.

In the case of published works, permission must be sought from the company who first "spent money to print and distribute it for profit" and in the event that the second user is also to make money out of it, he must pay part of his profits to the first person who risked his investments in the work.

In such cases, credit in the form of moral right of the originator of the work is given on the cover or mentioned but financially he benefits lesser than the original publisher of the work.

The financial rewards or profits that accrue to the originator of the work, that is, the moral owner of the intellectual property is referred to as royalties.

Copyright societies exist which collect royalties for owners of intellectual property. But one has to first register the work with the copyright administrator or his agent.

Most copyright societies are like trade unions. They have ethical codes and contract terms or standard contract forms for its members.

In a rush to see your film, or hear your music on CD or see your book in print, most beginners are hyped by agents and publishers through clever clauses in the contract agreement unwittingly giving consent to relinquish their moral rights or forgo their financial rights.

Sometimes, too, beginners agree to take a lesser percentage as royalties, thereby forcing down the general percentage charged by the pros or experienced ones in the business. Such persons can be sanctioned by the copyright society they belong to if they are found out.