Breakthrough means promoters will earn royalties from live recordings

11 December 2014 - News

A royalty collecting society for promoters has been approved by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) in Hamburg, after 10 years of lobbying and preparation.

The campaign for promoters to earn royalties from the commercial exploitation of recordings made at concerts they promoted was driven by promoters and agents’ association BDV, based on as aspect of German copyright law.

The new body, Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Veranstalterrechten (GWVR, in English, The Collection Society for the Neighbouring Right) is a subsidiary of BDV.

“This is a landmark breakthrough of global significance,” says GWVR CEO Johannes Ulbricht.

“Itr means that, for the first time, there is an organisation in Germany that collects royalties for promoters from the exploitation of live recordings made at their shows, legally established under the German Copyright Act.

“However, our work is only just beginning, because now we will have to establish rates and schemes of distribution with the DPMA.”

The society will assert the claims of members when recordings for contemporary music, classical or comedy events – whether audio/visual or just sound – are broadcast on radio, television, YouTube or Spotify.

All promoters based in the European Union can become a member of the GWVR and German promoters will be able to claim for events at home and abroad.

“After a protracted and difficult approval procedure with the GWVR, this mans that promoters are not merely dependent on the fleeting success of their concerts, but can also participate in longer-term rewards from the events they promote,” adds BDV president Jens Michow.

This article first appeared in Audience magazine. Subscribe here.