MEDIABANC TO BOOST AWARENESS OF COPYRIGHT ISSUE

By Saraswathi Muniappan

KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 (Bernama) -- Southeast Asia's largest media
monitoring and media analysis provider, Mediabanc (M) Sdn Bhd, has taken the
lead to enhance the awareness of copyright issue in the industry and take it a
higher level.

Its chief executive officer, Alan Lim, said as the pioneer in the media
intelligence business in Malaysia, the company has put in great efforts to
educate the clients and public on the importance of copyright.

"Mediabanc believes in giving appropriate credit when using the contents, be
it on television, online or in print media.

"As users we have to respect the content creators for the industry to grow.

"Mediabanc fully understands this and that is why we are working as an
industry to monetise the process," he told Bernama in an interview.

Mediabanc recently sealed an agreement with the national news agency,
Bernama, to use the contents produced by the latter for a fee.

He said most of the time, the third party did not realise the copyright
issue involved in using the materials or television clippings.

"For instance, if an organisation picks up a news item that is related to
them and upload it in their website without the knowledge of the creator, it is
clear case of copyright infringement," he said.

Lim said although there was no proper association to monitor the industry,
the standard has been somewhat at par with that of developed countries.

"We operate very loosely for the betterment of the industry. When we signed
with Bernama I called the competitors and partners in the business and explained
to them the deal. When they agreed we signed the deal, they followed as well,"
he said.

Mediabanc, he said, has similar arrangements with 60-70 per cent of the
contents providers in the country.

He said such efforts were not being done by Mediabanc in Malaysia alone, but
also in other markets where it has presence namely, Singapore, Indonesia,
Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The media monitoring and intelligence market is expected to grow by 20 to 30
per cent annually as organisations outsource their media monitoring to manage
costs and get better returns on investment.

The market is currently worth around RM50 million (US$15.62 million) within
the region.

Since 1997, MediaBanc, a Malaysian company, has been growing to capture the
South-east Asian market.

Since its inception in Kuala Lumpur, the company has set up offices in Johor
Baru in the Johor state to cater to Singaporean clients, Jakarta, Manila,
Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City.

MediaBanc monitors 50 radio stations, 80 television stations, 300
newspapers, 1,000 magazines, 25,000 online news sites and 35,000 social network
sites to cater to about 500 million people in Southeast Asia.
-- BERNAMA