Karaoke bars in China will be charged for using music videos from next month in a move to increase copyright protection.

A new association, the China Audio-Video Collective Administration Association, approved by the National Copyright Administration (NCA), will be responsible for charging the karaoke bars for the music videos, the NCA said on Thursday.

The copyright concerning videos played in karaoke bars has always been a major issue in China's efforts to protect copyright, said Liu Wenhe, deputy director of the new association.

"We have suggested charging each private room in karaoke bars around 10 yuan (1.25 U.S. dollars) per day for the use of music videos," Liu said, adding that the conclusive payment rates will be announced by the NAC soon.

Source: Xinhua