Copyrights; commissioning a collecting society or applying for a license of use

Authors of literary, scientific and artistic works enjoy protection for their works in accordance with the Copyright Act. Accordingly, the author has, among other things, the exclusive right to publicly reproduce their work.

Tarife & Formulare - GEMA

This form can be submitted electronically without signature (e.g. via a secure contact form or by e-mail) or in paper form to the responsible authority.

In many areas, authors have the option of commissioning a collecting society to manage their rights. Collecting societies are subject to state supervision with regard to their monopoly and fiduciary status. The German Patent and Trade Mark Office exercises this supervision on the basis of the Collecting Societies Act.

The following collecting societies are licensed to operate in Germany:

Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte (GEMA)
Collecting society Bild-Kunst (VG Bild-Kunst)
Collecting society for words (VG Wort)
Collecting society for rights of use in cinematographic works mbH (VGF)
Collecting society for music edition (VG Musikedition)
Society for the Assumption and Administration of Film Performance Rights (GÜFA)
Collecting society of film and television producers mbH (VFF)
Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrechten mbH (GWFF)
AGICOA Urheberrechtschutz Gesellschaft mbH (AGICOA)
Corint Media GmbH (Corint Media)
Treuhandgesellschaft Werbefilm mbH (VG TWF)
Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten mbH (GVL)
Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Veranstalterrechten mbH (GWVR)

Further information on the collecting societies can be found under "Further links".

It follows from the exclusive right of the author that the use of copyrighted material (e.g. by performing a musical work or staging a spoken work) is only permitted with the consent of the author or the owner of the exclusive right of use. If the author has commissioned a collecting society to manage his rights, the necessary license must be obtained from the collecting society.

Conversely, performers and event organizers have a property right related to copyright in their performance (ancillary copyright), which can also be managed collectively by a collecting society. In Germany, this task is performed by the Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten mbH (GVL).