The Copyright Music Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago (COTT) is a non-profit making membership organisation of songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers of all genres. Incorporated in 1984 and operating since January 1985, COTT administers the public performance, broadcasting, communication to the public, mechanical reproduction and synchronisation rights granted by law to the creators and owners of original music.
COTT is the premier collecting society for composers and for the protection of musical works in Trinidad and Tobago. It is also the leading collecting society in the Caribbean region (by income and administrative expertise), and is a founding member of the Caribbean Copyright Link (CCL), the umbrella body for the collecting societies in the Caribbean.
COTT’s members compose in all categories of music – ranging from calypso, soca, chutney, pan, rapso, parang, gospel, dancehall, Indian, African, pop, rock, and jazz; to music in TV programmes and jingles. COTT represents the works of its 1,800 local members and two million songwriters worldwide through its reciprocal agreements with collecting societies around the world, including:
• The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)
• Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN)
• The Performing Rights Society (PRS) of the UK
• The Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS)
• The Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO)
• The Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)
• Copyright Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (COSCAP) of Barbados
• Jamaica Association of Composers Authors and Publishers (JACAP);
and many others.
COTT is also a member of International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) and is recognised by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The 23-year-old organisation is also the only one in the history of the Trinidad and Tobago music industry to consistently host music awards which focus exclusively on the persons who create music.
