Get more information on membership, licensing information from a COTT office near you.
T 624-COTT (2688)
Email: cott@cott.org.tt
Copyright Music Organisation of Trinidad & Tobago
139-141 Abercromby Street, Port of Spain
COTT is a clearing house for music users and creators. We facilitate the process of granting permission to users of music, who are legally obligated to get authorisation from copyright owners each time their music is performed in public, broadcast or recorded.
Music composers by law are protected to earn income through the royalties paid on the public performance of their work, as such they are granted certain exclusive economic rights and so in order to use their work, a license is necessary. By obtaining an appropriate COTT license, paying the appropriate license fee or royalties, any music user can legally use a wide range of music. COTT acts as a collective administration organisation administering and negotiating “blanket licenses” with music users which provides them with access to all the music protected under COTT's local and reciprocal agreements.
In addition to Event and Business licences, COTT also assists music users who need to seek clearance for reproduction of copyright musical works. Examples of reproduction where clearance is required iare:
If you are producing a record of a copyrighted work on CD, MP3, tape or any other format, you need to obtain a COTT Mechanical Licence.
If you are using music as a soundtrack for a film or a television programme, you need to obtain a COTT Synchronisation Licence.
If you are making a commercial jingle or an accompaniment to an advertisement using copyrighted music, you need to have a COTT Synchronisation Licence.
Broadcasters are one of COTT’s main user groups. They not only broadcast music, they also reproduce it on a regular basis, and as such usually require two types of licences to cover these different uses.
COTT broadcast licences authorise the broadcast of all works in our repertoire - local and international - on the broadcaster’s service. In return for the licence, broadcasters pay a licence fee and usually need to provide us with music returns and cue sheets to identify the music they have broadcast. COTT broadcast licences also authorise the reproduction of music subject to certain limitations. For example, these licences do not allow music to be reproduced in an advertisement.
If you operate a radio station, television station, cable or satellite television service in Trinidad & Tobago, you require a licence from COTT .
If you are an online service making copyright protected music available online in Trinidad & Tobago you need to obtain an online music licence. Such services include streaming and downloading audio and audio-visual files via the Internet, mobile telephones or other online technologies.
Whenever music is downloaded or streamed over the Internet, there are a number of rights which are exploited. These include:
In addition to COTT licences you will also require licences from the relevant record company/executive producer/artiste or other right owner for the use of the master recording.
