The government earns revenue worth Tk 2.5 billion from the music industry annually and it could be increased significantly by implementing the copyright law, said the cultural affairs minister Asaduzzaman Noor at a seminar on Sunday.
He was speaking at the programme on the protection of the intellectual property right of the music industry on the eve of the World Intellectual Property Day-2015.
The programme was organised jointly by the Department of Patents, Design and Trademarks (DPDT) and Intellectual Property Association of Bangladesh (IPAB) at CIRDAP Auditorium in the city.
Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu was the chief guest while Asaduzzaman Noor and FBCCI president Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed spoke as special guests.
Asaduzzaman Noor said lack of implementation of the copyright law was depriving both the artistes and the government of earning.
He said with full implementation of the copyright law and IPA Acts, artistes would get benefit while government would also get more revenue.
He said the government updated the copyright law and it would be modified further for the interest of the music and other creative industries in future.
The industries minister said the government has taken initiatives for protecting intellectual property rights for making a knowledge-based society.
The Industry Act 2010 has given space for new inventions as inventors will be able to protect their patent products and intellectual properties, he said.
The DPDT has been digitalised, copyright and patent laws have been mordernised, Geographical Indication (GI) Act has also been passed, he said. Secretary-in-charge of the industries ministry Farhad Uddin, Registrar-in-charge of DPDT Md Elias Bhuiyan, Registrar of Copyright Office Bangladesh Md Nabirul Islam, Director General of IPAB Md Azizur Rahman, among others, also spoke.
Chairman of the department of music, Dhaka University (DU) Sahnaj Nasrin Ila presented the keynote styled "IP Right Protection of Music: Perspective Bangladesh" which said that the government gets revenue worth millions of Taka from the music industry where nearly 1.0 million people including singers, lyricists, musicians, producers, CD (compact disk) and cassette companies, marketers, wholesalers and retailers have been employed.
The paper said nearly 33 per cent of internet users in Bangladesh still regularly access unlicensed services. "And the prevailing situation has become a threat to the country's music industry".
Maqsoodul Haque (Maq-sood), singer of the most popular song on Pahela Baishakh festival --- 'Melay Jaire' (let's go to the fair) --- said piracy is destroying our local music industry. If it is not controlled, we can't expect anything good in future.
tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com
Govt earns Tk 2.5b a year from music industry
FE Report | Published: April 27, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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