Dominican copyright office and Santiago municipality to host forum on cultural property rights

Santiago, DR.- The National Copyright Office (ONDA) and the Santiago municipality partnered to host a public forum focused on intellectual property rights within traditional Dominican music, officials announced Monday.

Scheduled for Thursday, May 28, at the Santiago Municipal Palace, «Derecho de Autor en la Cultura y la Música» (Copyright in Culture and Music) will serve as part of a broader educational campaign to clarify copyright regulations for local artists.

The event will specifically address the preservation and legal protection of merengue típico, the oldest traditional style of Dominican merengue. Organizers noted that the forum aims to bridge the gap between complex legal frameworks and working musicians who frequently navigate the industry without formal corporate backing.

Special recognition for female traditional artists

As part of the program, the municipality and ONDA will honor several prominent female accordionists and vocalists who have historically anchored the genre.

Among the honorees is Fefita La Grande, a foundational figure in merengue típico who became the first woman to bring the traditional accordion-based style to European stages in the 1970s. In 2016, she received the Gran Soberano, the country’s highest cultural accolade.

The forum will also recognize musicians India Canela, María Díaz, and Paquel Arias. Legal experts noted that highlighting these long-standing careers is critical, as traditional folklore creators have historically been left out of formal intellectual property and royalty discussions.

Legal frameworks and new creative incentives

Lucía Castillo, a corporate attorney specializing in copyright law and head of ONDA’s collective management department, will deliver the keynote address. The technical session will focus on the practical steps required to register musical works, how collective rights management entities operate domestically, and the current digital tools available to protect creators’ royalties.

The event will also feature presentations from national collective management societies detailing Repertorio Dominicano (Reperdom), a digital tracking platform designed to monitor song playbacks and streamline royalty distribution.

Additionally, ONDA will announce an upcoming essay competition linking copyright law to the sports industry, alongside the launch of the first institutional songwriting contest dedicated exclusively to unpublished, original merengue típico compositions.

ONDA Director General José Ruben Gonell Cosme and Santiago Mayor Ulises Rodríguez are scheduled to deliver the opening remarks.