Collective Rights Management: What Creators Need to Know

Collective rights management organizations (CMOs), also known as collecting societies, play a vital role in the creative industries. They ensure that creators receive fair compensation when their works are used by third parties.

What Are Collecting Societies?

Collecting societies are organizations that manage rights on behalf of their members — authors, performers, producers, and other rights holders. They license the use of creative works, collect royalties, and distribute them to rights holders.

How They Work

When a radio station plays a song, a hotel shows a film, or a business uses background music, the collecting society issues a license and collects the appropriate fees. These fees are then distributed to the relevant rights holders based on usage data.

Benefits for Creators

Individual creators rarely have the resources to monitor and enforce their rights across all possible uses. Collecting societies provide:

• Comprehensive licensing coverage
• Efficient royalty collection and distribution
• Legal protection and enforcement
• Advocacy for creators' rights

Choosing the Right Society

Different societies manage different types of rights. It's important to join the appropriate society for your type of creative work. In many EU countries, there are separate societies for music, film, literature, and visual arts.