What is a Related Rights Organization?
Sometimes also called neighboring rights organizations, Related Rghts Organizations include Performers Collective Management Organizations (PMOs) and Music Licensing Companies (MLCs), which To manage music-related rights and royalties on behalf of rights holders. rights and collect and pay Money paid for the right to use a musical work, performance, or sound recording, typically, but not always, in the form of recurring payments. to In the context of music, a creator playing a musical work live or on a sound recording., A company that invests in, manufactures, distributes, promotes, and monetizes sound recordings on behalf of the artist., or both, when their Typically, the recorded performance of a musical work protected as a phonogram under copyright law. are publicly performed or generate income via certain other uses. Public performances can include playing a sound recording on TV or radio, in clubs and restaurants, on websites, or other music broadcasting systems. In some countries, PMOs also collect royalties for certain online uses. These are often the same uses Performing Rights Organization: a type of Collective Management Organization that administers rights and collects royalties on behalf of songwriters and music publishers when their musical works are publicly performed or broadcast. collect royalties for, for the public performance of the An original musical composition with or without lyrics.. See our page on Performing Rights Organizations for more information.
For more details about rights, visit our topics on Music Creators’ Rights, Rights Transfer and Licensing, and Scope of Protection.
Visit our page on Collective Management Organizations to learn more about different types of CMOs.
What does a Related Rights Organization do?
These organizations perform a range of functions, the most important being:
The process of granting permission to use copyrighted material, such as a musical work or sound recording. the use of sound recordings
Collecting royalties and A report that details the types and number of uses of a musical work or sound recording, for example, the number of streams or radio plays. from businesses and organizations that use sound recordings
Distributing those royalties to performers and record labels
How do Related Rights Organizations work?
These organizations work by licensing the use of sound recordings to businesses and organizations. When a business or organization wants to use these in public, they must obtain a license and pay for the use.
They then distribute royalties to the performers and record labels they represent, who have The controls creators or rights holders have over what they have created or produced and over their identity and image. in the sound recordings. The amount of royalty earned is typically based on how many times the sound recording was played. But many variations can apply in different countries in different scenarios.
Many Related Rights Organizations are members of SCAPR or affiliated with IFPI, or can be found through the local A government agency responsible for regulating and administering copyright, including the enforcement of copyright laws..
For more details about this, visit our Getting Credited and Paid topic.
Why are Related Rights Organizations important?
They are important because they help to make sure that performers and other A person or company that has Intellectual Property Rights in a musical work, performance or sound recording are paid for the use of their performances and sound recordings. Keeping track of this would be near-impossible for performers and rights holders, so Related Rights Organizations play a vital role in the music ecosystem.
Image credit: Martin Fabricius Rasmussen