A new leadership at the helm of OMDA (L’Office malgache des droits d’auteurs)

Joelinirina Nomenasoa Rarivojaona has been appointed as the head of the Malagasy Copyright Office (OMDA), following a Council of Ministers meeting held on April 12, 2023.

This appointment fills a vacancy that had persisted for over a year in the Director’s position within the OMDA. Mr. Rarivojaona succeeds Haja Ranjarivo, who had led the institution for over twenty years before being dismissed in February 2022.

No stranger to the OMDA, Joelinirina Nomenasoa Rarivojaona has already worked for over thirteen years within the institution. From 2010 to 2017, he held the position of head of the documentation and distribution service before becoming head of the collection and control service from 2017 onwards, giving him an in-depth knowledge of the organization’s workings. His appointment is seen as an ideal solution to resolve the disputes opposing the Ministry of Culture and the artists’ union for some time. These disagreements led some artists to propose a structure parallel to the OMDA to ensure artists’ emancipation from the ministry.

Holding a master’s degree in intellectual property law from Yaoundé II University in Cameroon, Mr. Rarivojaona also has a certificate in intellectual property management. He has undergone numerous trainings in this field. His candidacy was selected among the three submitted by artists and the Ministry of Communication and Culture.

The Ministry thus welcomes this appointment, viewing it as an opportunity to end the crisis that has been ongoing for several months. A crisis that notably led to the non-payment of copyrights to OMDA members. Thus, the main challenge awaiting the new director will be regularizing these accumulated rights payments.