The Karlsruhe University of Music rejects the planned GEMA reform and shares the position of the Rectors' Conference of German Music Universities (RKM).
On March 28, the RKM wrote an open letter to the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board of the German GEMA (Society for Musical Performing and Mechanical Reproduction Rights). In this letter, the RKM expresses its deep concern about the currently planned GEMA reform, which it believes has not been sufficiently discussed. It would put young composers in particular at a serious disadvantage on their path to professionalism and could have unforeseeable consequences for the music scene and German music academies.
The chairman of the RKM, Prof. Christian Fischer, comments: "We firmly reject the apparently planned abandonment of the previous solidarity principle in favor of predominantly commercially oriented collection distribution rules. As those responsible for the German music academies, where the reform would jeopardize the existing composition courses and certain branches of study, we appeal to GEMA to postpone the reform by at least one year due to the many unresolved issues. According to the planned new rules, even such a prolific composer as J.S. Bach, who composed almost exclusively for the low-collection area of church music, would no longer be able to become a full member of GEMA and would therefore hardly receive any income from his compositional work."
You can find the complete open letter here.