CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, works towards increased recognition and protection of creators’ rights. CISAC was founded in 1926 and is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation. Its headquarters are in Paris, with regional offices in Budapest, Santiago de Chile, Johannesburg and Singapore.
CISAC’s main activities and member services aim to:
- To strengthen and develop the international network of copyright societies;
- To secure a position for creators and their collective management organisations in the international scene;
- To adopt and implement quality and technical efficiency criteria to increase copyright societies’ interoperability;
- To support societies’ strategic development in each region and in each repertoire;
- To retain a central database allowing societies to exchange information efficiently;
- To participate in improving national and international copyright laws and practices.
As of June 2010, CISAC numbers 229 authors’ societies from 121 countries and indirectly represents around 3 million creators and music publishers within all the artistic repertoires: music, drama, literature, audio-visual, graphic and visual arts.
The total amount of royalties collected by CISAC’s member societies, on their own national collection territories, amounted in 2009 to more than €7.152 billion.
CISAC’s co-ordination can take different forms:
Reciprocal Representation
Authors’ societies strive to represent their members all over the world. Because of CISAC’s efforts, they operate within a global network based on a principle called reciprocal representation: societies entrust the administration of their members’ rights abroad to sister societies.
Establishing Authors’ Societies
CISAC helps to enlarge the global network of societies, by supporting the creation of new societies and offering them its political, legal and technical expertise.
Legal and Technical Co-operation
CISAC’s think tanks, consisting of experts from member societies, are responsible for studying the technical and legal issues related to authors’ rights and their collective administration.
Regional Co-operation
CISAC has set up five Regional Committees (Africa, Latin-America and the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, Canada/USA and Europe) to facilitate co-operation between societies in the same region. These committees allow societies to share their experiences and reinforce their efficiency in the management of rights in their territories.
CIS
CISAC’s global network extends into the online world as well. With the worldwide network of its Common Information System (CIS), CISAC provides its members with the necessary means to protect their repertoire in the digital environment. At the same time, the system aims to standardise the information exchange between societies in order to improve their efficiency.
International Solidarity & Development
CISAC offers financial, logistical, legal and technical assistance to emerging authors’ societies and also offers a full range of training programmes across the globe. Much of this assistance is carried out in collaboration with more developed societies from the network.
