COPYRIGHT COLLECTIVE SOCIETIES

Audio Ciné Films Inc. (ACF) is Canada's exclusive non-theatrical distributor and public performance licensing agent for Canadian, American and foreign feature film producers such as Universal Studios, Walt Disney Pictures, Alliance-Atlantis, Paramount Pictures, MGM Studios, Touchstone Pictures, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, United Artists, FineLine Features, Orion Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, New Line Cinema, Behaviour, Miramax Films, Odeon, Sony Classics, Paramount Classics, Blackwatch Releasing and Artisan Entertainment, among others. It distributes films in 16MM, 35MM, videocassette and DVD.

The Canadian Screenwriters Collection Society (CSCS) is a non-profit corporation created by the Writers Guild of Canada with the mandate to claim, collect and distribute secondary authors' levies to which film and television writers are entitled under the copyright legislation of European and other jurisdictions. In this context, secondary authors' monies include private home copying (blank tape) levies, rental and lending levies, and educational use levies.

Criterion Pictures is the non-theatrical distributor of feature films for many of Hollywood's major motion picture studios. It offer movies to the non-theatrical market on four primary mediums: 35mm, 16mm, VHS and DVD. Criterion Pictures administers and manages both educational (Visual Education Centre) and entertainment audiovisual works including motion pictures distributed by, among many others, Astral Films (TVA), Columbia Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, Fox Searchlight, Lions Gate Films, Lucas Films, Norstar Releasing Inc.,Tri-Star Pictures, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Revolution Studios and Savoy Pictures. It grants licences for the use of these protected works.

The Directors Rights Collective of Canada (DRCC) is a non-profit corporation founded by the Directors Guild of Canada. Its mandate is to collect and distribute royalties and levies to which film and television directors are entitled under the copyright legislation of jurisdictions throughout the world.

The Producers Audiovisual Collective of Canada (PACC) is a non-profit corporation founded by the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA). Its purpose is to act on behalf of the producers as a collective society for the management and distribution of royalties deriving from the sale of blank audiovisual media ("blank tape levies") and from the rental and lending of video recordings.

The Société civile des auteurs multimédia (SCAM) is an international Francophone society tasked by its members with negotiating licences with conventional and specialty broadcasters, negotiating agreements for cable retransmission, as well as collecting and distributing their royalties. SCAM's repertoire consists mainly of audio-visual documentaries, as well as radio and literary works.

The Educational Rights Collective of Canada (ERCC) is a non-profit collective established in 1998 to represent the interests of copyright owners of television and radio programs (news, commentary programs and all other programs), when these programs are reproduced and performed in public by educational institutions for educational or training purposes.

Access Copyright, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, represents writers, publishers and other creators for the administration of copyright in all provinces except Quebec. The purpose of the collective is to provide easy access to copyright material by negotiating comprehensive licences with user groups, such as schools, colleges, universities, governments, corporations, etc. permitting reproduction rights, such as photocopy rights, for the works in its repertoire.

The Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC) is the national service organization for professional playwrights. It represents nearly 400 members, distributes more than 2,000 plays and offers many services to the theatre-loving public. It acts as agent for the distribution of rights and collection of royalties.

The Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques (SACD) is an international Francophone society tasked by its members (playwrights, screenwriters, composers, producers, choreographers, and directors) with negotiating licences with conventional and specialty broadcasters, negotiating agreements for cable retransmission, as well as collecting and distributing their royalties. SACD's repertoire consists of stage works (plays, ballets, operas, operettas, reviews, musicals, mime performances and skits), audio-visual works (movies for television, series, serial dramas, cartoons, and feature and non-feature films) and radio works.

La Société québécoise de gestion collective des droits de reproduction (COPIBEC) is the collective society which authorizes in Quebec the reproduction of works from Quebec, Canadian (through a bilateral agreement with Access Copyright, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency) and foreign rights holders. COPIBEC was founded in 1997 by l'Union des écrivaines et écrivains québécois (UNEQ) and the Association nationale des éditeurs de livres (ANEL).

Founded in 1994, the Société québécoise des auteurs dramatiques (SoQAD) has the mandate of redistributing (redirect/forward) to Quebec, Canadian and foreign playwrights whose works are performed in public or private teaching institutions to the pre-school, primary and secondary levels, royalties provided for in the financial agreement between the Ministry of Education and the Association québécoise des auteurs dramatiques (AQAD).

The Canadian Broadcasters Rights Agency (CBRA) claims royalties for programming and excerpts of programming owned by commercial radio and television stations and networks in Canada, including CTV, TVA and Quatre-Saisons networks and their affiliates, the Global Television Network, independent television stations and the privately-owned affiliates of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Société Radio-Canada (SRC).

The ACTRA Performers' Rights Society (PRS) is responsible for the collection and distribution of fees, royalties, residual fees and all other forms of compensation or remuneration to which members and permit holders of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), and others may be entitled to as a result of their work or engagement in the entertainment and related industries.

The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) advocates the rights of musicians in their live and recorded performances in the United States and Canada and other countries, and where it deems appropriate, collects and distributes government mandated or other compulsory royalties of remuneration that are subject to collective administration.

ArtistI is the collective society of the Union des artistes (UDA) for the remuneration of performers' rights.

The Audio-Video Licensing Agency (AVLA) is a copyright collective that administers the copyright for the owners of master audio and music video recordings. AVLA licences the exhibition and reproduction of music videos and the reproduction of audio recordings for commercial use.

The Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA) is a Canadian centralized licensing and collecting agency for the reproduction rights of musical works in Canada. It represents over 6,000 Canadian and U.S. publishers who own and administer approximately 75 per cent of the music recorded and performed in Canada. Licensing is done on a per use basis.

The Christian Copyright Licensing Inc. (CCLI) was created to help churches comply with the copyright law and to compensate copyright owners fairly for such compliance. The CCLI issues licences to reproduce songs in bulletins, liturgies and congregational songsheets; make slides and transparencies of songs; print songs in customized songbooks; make customized arrangements of songs and record worship services for tape ministry.

The Neighbouring Rights Collective of Canada (NRCC) is a non-profit umbrella collective, created in 1997, to administer the rights of performers and makers of sound recordings. This is done through five member collectives: the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), ArtistI, the Audio-Video Licensing Agency (AVLA), the Société de gestion collective des droits des producteurs de phonogrammes et vidéogrammes du Québec (SOPROQ) and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television and Radio Artists Performers Rights Society (ACTRA PRS).

SOPROQ, a copyright collective for producers of sound recordings and videos, administers the royalties which belong to producers of audio and video recordings. It distributes to its members the royalties which come from the equitable remuneration ("neighbouring rights") and private copying regimes as well as the royalties which come from licensing agreements it has entered into with regards to the broadcast of videoclips and reproduction of sound recordings. SOPROQ makes sure that the interests of its members are defended before the Copyright Board. SOPROQ was created by ADISQ in 1991.

The Société de gestion des droits des artistes-musiciens (SOGEDAM) is a collective society created in 1997 to represent Canadian performers (musicians) and performers who are members of foreign societies that have mandated it to represent their interests.

The Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers in Canada (SODRAC) administers royalties stemming from the reproduction of musical works. It represents some 4,000 Canadian songwriters and music publishers as well as the musical repertoire of over 65 countries.

The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a performing rights society that administers performing rights in musical works on behalf of Canadian composers, authors and publishers as well as affiliated societies representing foreign composers, authors and publishers.

The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) is the collective society for the private copying levy. CPCC is also responsible for distributing the funds generated by the levy to the collective societies representing eligible authors, performers and makers of sound recordings. The member collectives of the CPCC are: the Canadian Mechanical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA), the Neighbouring Rights Collective of Canada (NRCC), the Société de gestion des droits des artistes-musiciens (SOGEDAM), the Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers in Canada (SODRAC) and the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN).

Border Broadcasters' Inc. (BBI) represents U.S. border broadcasters (a mix of network affiliated and independent stations in large and small markets along the Canada-U.S. border). The royalties that BBI collects and distributes to its members are for programs produced by the stations (i.e. the local programming) as opposed to the network or syndicated programming which is represented by other collectives.

The Canadian Broadcasters Rights Agency (CBRA) claims royalties for programming, compilations and signals owned by commercial radio and television stations and networks in Canada, including CTV, TVA and Quatre-Saisons networks and their affiliates, the Global Television Network, independent television stations and the privately-owned affiliates of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Société Radio-Canada (SRC).

The Canadian Retransmission Collective (CRC) represents all PBS and TVOntario programming (producers) as well as owners of motion pictures and television drama and comedy programs produced outside the United States (i.e. Canada and other countries).

The Canadian Retransmission Right Association (CRRA) is an association representing certain broadcasters, i.e.: the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and Télé-Québec with respect to their interests as copyright owners of radio and television programming retransmitted as distant signals in Canada. CRRA acts as the collective for its members, collecting and distributing royalties paid by retransmitters in Canada.

The Copyright Collective of Canada (CCC) represents copyright owners (producers and distributors) of the U.S. independent motion picture and television production industry for all drama and comedy programming (such as companies represented by the Motion Picture Association of America), except for that carried on the PBS network stations.

The Direct Response Television Collective (DRTVC) claims royalties for all television programs and underlying works in the form of direct response television programming (defined as "infomercials") including all television programs and underlying works (with the exception of programming predominantly religious or devotional in nature) whose broadcast is subject to the producer, program owner or program distributor buying airtime in respect of which retransmission royalties may be claimed.

The FWS Joints Sports Claimants (FWS) represents the teams in major sports leagues whose games are regularly telecast in Canada and the United States. The leagues are the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association and the Canadian, National and American Football Leagues. The programs for which copyright royalties are claimed are games broadcast between the member teams on distant signals carried by Canadian cable systems, except for those for which a television network is the copyright owner.

The Major League Baseball Collective of Canada (MLB) is the sole party entitled to claim royalties arising out of the retransmission of major league baseball games in Canada.

The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a performing rights society that administers performing rights in musical works on behalf of Canadian composers, authors and publishers as well as affiliated societies representing foreign composers, authors and publishers. With respect to retransmission, SOCAN represents owners of the copyright in the music that is integrated in the programming carried in retransmitted radio and television signals. Rather than claiming ownership of individual programs, SOCAN asks for a share of the royalties for all works.

CARCC (Canadian Artists' Representation Copyright Collective) was established in 1990 to create opportunities for increased income for visual and media artists. It provides its services to artists who affiliate with the Collective. These services include negotiating the terms for copyright use and issuing an appropriate license to the user.

The Société de droits d'auteur en arts visuels (SODART) was created by the Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Québec (RAAV) and is responsible for collecting rights on behalf of visual artists. It negotiates agreements with organizations that use visual arts, such as museums, exhibition centres, magazines, publishers, audio-visual producers, etc. SODART issues licences to these organizations and collects royalties due to the artists it represents.

SODRAC's Visual Arts and Crafts Department manages the rights of more than 17,000 Canadian and foreign creators of artistic works. SODRAC negotiates on their behalf the conditions for the use of their works for any of the purposes outlined in the Copyright Act, and grants licences for public exhibition, communication to the public by telecommunication and the reproduction of their works on any media, including audiovisual and multimedia. It collects and distributes royalties paid for the right to use their works. To check if an artist is represented by SODRAC's Visual Arts and Crafts Department, please consult the "Repertoire" page under the "Artistic Works" section on its Web site.