From Screens to Cafes: Where Are the Musicians' Rights?
Mufreh Al-Shamribin: Legal protection and the widespread use of songs in cafes, hotels, radio stations, and television networks—who monitors the rights of their owners? There are songs we know before we know their creators’ names, melodies tied to our memories, and musical works that have become part of the collective consciousness of generations. Today, music is not only heard through albums or radio broadcasts; it is also used in cafes, restaurants, hotels, shops, and commercial complexes, and is broadcast via radio, television, and digital platforms, as well as incorporated into programs, advertisements, and events.
With each use, a legitimate question arises: Who tracks the use of the work? Who handles licensing and collection? And how does the due remuneration reach the rights holder? In Kuwait, there is legal protection for authors’ rights and neighboring rights, and the legal framework includes provisions related to rights management and remuneration collection. Therefore, the discussion is not about the absence of legal protection, but rather about the capacity of the rights management system to keep pace with the multiple ways music is used today.
In the United Arab Emirates, the music rights system is undergoing regulatory developments in 2026, as part of a move toward regulating the commercial use of musical works and managing rights more transparently. This initiative will be implemented next December and deserves close attention to assess its outcomes.
A song, once it leaves the studio, may live for many years: it is broadcast on the radio, featured in a television program, played in a hotel or café, and reaches audiences through digital platforms. Thus, the real challenge lies in transitioning from protecting rights to managing them, and from legal recognition to ensuring their tracking, collection, and the actual delivery of due payments to their rightful owners. If the law safeguards rights, is protection alone sufficient, or do we need a system that ensures these rights truly reach their owners?
