Togo’s copyright office, BUTODRA, began paying its 52nd royalty distribution to 722 authors on 3 August 2026, and every franc went by bank transfer to a La Poste postal account, not to a mobile money wallet. That choice, made four years ago, now shapes who gets paid on time.
BUTODRA means Bureau Togolais du Droit d’Auteur, the state-supervised society that licenses broadcasters, bars, hotels and concerts in Togo.
Two cycles a year, published as name lists
BUTODRA pays by semester. Its own notices show the pattern:
- 50th distribution (first half of 2025): payment from 11 July 2025, 636 names on the list.
- 51st distribution (second half of 2025): payment from 26 December 2025, 660 names.
- 52nd distribution (first half of 2026): payment from 3 August 2026, 722 names.
That is 13.5 percent more payees in a year. The lists carry names only, no amounts, so no member can benchmark their cheque.
The mobile money tier that disappeared
In 2021 the rule was split by size. For the 41st distribution, amounts up to 30,000 FCFA (about 46 euros at the fixed CFA peg) went out by Flooz or T-Money, and larger sums went to a CCP account at the post office. The 42nd did the same.
From the 43rd distribution in July 2022, every payment moved to CCP transfer. Writers without an account must bring an ID copy to BUTODRA to have one opened. Cash is refused.
Togo had 12.55 million e-money accounts at the end of 2024, 6.07 million of them active, according to BCEAO figures reported by Togo First in March 2026. The wallet most small earners already use is the one channel BUTODRA no longer pays into.
Payment “by waves”
After the 51st list went up, Icilome reported on 9 January 2026 that listed members were still unpaid weeks later. BUTODRA said transfers go out “par vagues”, with no published schedule. Icilome says this has recurred since bank transfer became the main method.
Where writers fall out of the pool
Gate one: the work has to be declared
BUTODRA’s documentation service says membership only counts once you declare at least one published work, and each work needs its own declaration. A work that is badly documented or never declared earns its creator nothing, “even if it plays on a loop” on radio, TV or digital platforms.
The music filing pack is analogue: audio on a USB stick, an ID copy, two photos, a letter to the Director General and signed forms. Foreign nationals also need authorisation from their home society.
Gate two: the regularisation list
Before paying, BUTODRA posts a list of members whose files are incomplete. The July 2025 list named 10 authors. The August 2026 list named 19, and four of the original 10 were still on it 13 months later.
The history behind the distrust
In February 2019, 27avril.com reported that Togo’s visual artists’ federation was contesting a distribution of 15 million FCFA to nearly 700 artists, which it put at 11.5 percent of receipts. Opacity about amounts is the long-running complaint.
What to do with this
- Open the CCP account before the list drops. Notices land in July or August and in December. Without an account, BUTODRA has nowhere to send the money.
- Declare every track, one form each. Shares are split pro rata from broadcaster and promoter programme returns, so undeclared plays pay nobody.
- Check the regularisation list every cycle. It is a one-page PDF, and being on it holds your payment.
- Keep streaming separate. BUTODRA covers broadcast and public performance. DSP master income comes through your distributor, so pick one that itemises it by platform and territory.
Related: how Benin collects royalties by USSD, why Burkina Faso is paying out 508 million CFA nobody collected, and how mobile money became music-payout infrastructure elsewhere.
