For a long time, analog media (such as VCRs and audio cassettes) have been available to make copies of works for personal use. But in recent years, with the digital boom, digital media have multiplied.

Digital consumables and multimedia devices have appeared, in particular, blank CD-Rs and RWs, external hard drives, flash memories, and devices using this type of media, such as USB keys, smartphones, digital players, computers, internet box or even digitization cards for computers or TV receivers (TNT) with integrated hard drives. The proliferation of these media makes real reflection on the status of private copying essential in Africa today, a reflection that has not yet advanced on the continent. It will be recalled that private copying is an exception to copyright law because it authorizes individuals to copy (using these media) for their personal use a work otherwise subject to copyright. As a result, there is a big loss of income for artists if compensation measures do not exist. This is why a royalty system on storage devices was designed to compensate for this shortfall. If this system now exists in most countries in Europe or North America, it is very little present in Africa. For example, in the ECOWAS region, only Burkina Faso and Ghana have introduced a stable private copying system.

This is how the theme of REMA 2021 focused on:

Remuneration per private copy is a driving force for musical creation in Africa