International royalties
How to earn when your music goes global
Whether your songs get uploaded to a digital service, included in a film or television program, or if your music takes you gigging overseas, APRA AMCOS has frameworks in place to deliver any royalties that have been collected worldwide through its agreements with affiliated performing and mechanical reproduction right organisations – think of them as our equivalents in other countries.
APRA’s first reciprocal agreement was signed in 1948 with US performing rights organisation, ASCAP −meaning local music could earn internationally. Today, almost 80 years later, we work with affiliate societies in over 100 countries.
Pictured: Berlin-based Flora Falls
We work with affiliates so that royalties flow back to members
Our international affiliates and their partners license music users in their territories - from DSPs to broadcasters and retail businesses. Each of these affiliates then collect licence fees, allocate royalties and distribute according to local laws and their own distribution practices.
When your music earns royalties that are collected by our affiliates in those territories, they are passed on to APRA AMCOS for distribution to you. It’s important to understand that revenue sources, payment timeframes, minimum thresholds and rates can differ from one affiliate to another, and may also differ to APRA AMCOS’ own domestic practices.
The majority of affiliates are members of international organisations CISAC for performing rights and BIEM for reproduction rights. Both of these organisations have agreed standards for distributing royalties and hold us and our affiliates accountable to those standards.
When do international royalties get paid?
We process and pay to our writer members all royalties we receive for the public performance of their works from international affiliates every month – we’re one of the few rights organisations to do so.
Royalties for the mechanical reproduction of our members’ works internationally are paid to members as part our quarterly AMCOS distributions. Please note that these royalties are in relation to members that are unpublished and have opted in for international reproduction collections as part of their AMCOS membership agreement.
What's an international royalty vs domestic royalty?
Domestic royalties are collected in territories administered by APRA AMCOS.
International royalties are collected in territories administered by our international affiliates.
Find out which territories we manage rights for and who our international affiliates are.
International royalty timeline: from play to pay
Due to our affiliates having different collection and distribution practices, processing times can vary between the performance or reproduction of music overseas and the ultimate distribution of these royalties to APRA AMCOS and then to members.
While we will always do our best to pass on international royalties to members as soon as we can, for most types of music use, the payment of international royalties collected by our affiliates can take up to a year from when the performance happened.
What you need to know
- International affiliates report royalties to APRA AMCOS regularly, albeit according to their own schedules.
- Schedules vary and can be as often as monthly, quarterly or half yearly.
- Payment timing depends on the royalty source and local licensing, processing and distribution arrangements.
- As international affiliates may not collect licence fees for the same types of music use as APRA AMCOS does domestically, in some cases an international royalty is not available for that use.
- There are territories where no rights management organisations exist; where copyright law is still developing; or where APRA AMCOS is not affiliated with the rights management organisation. In these cases, APRA AMCOS will not be able to collect any royalties on our members’ behalf.
- Because our international affiliates are distributing in accordance with their own policies and payment thresholds,Sometimes the use of music does not result in the earning of a royalty so will not be distributed to APRA AMCOS. Those threshold values are set by the affiliate’s own rules and practices.
Once payment is received from our international affiliates, we prioritise getting those payments to members as soon as we can.
What you need to tell us
If you know your registered work has been used overseas, you can inform us by submitting a claim or completing the relevant form or by contacting us.
What kind of use?
- Overseas live performances (easy to do in the App or Portal) Watch and learn!
- music in film and/or TV,
- jingles/advertisements,
- other broadcasts or recorded releases.
Providing this information will allow us to check any incoming royalties for that use and also help us to make a specific claim to the relevant international affiliate on your behalf.
Questions about international streaming royalties? Read our Q&A.
Manufacturing overseas?
Contact AMCOS before getting started.
If you're an AMCOS member and you're planning to have physical formats (CDs, DVDs, vinyl, cassette etc.) of an upcoming release manufactured in a country other than Australia or New Zealand, you may be required to pay mechanical royalties before finished goods can be released.
Contact AMCOS as early as possible in the production planning process to discuss your options.
Does AMCOS collect international royalties for writer members?
Yes, we do but we recommend that first you know what AMCOS collects and review your membership.
If you’re signed to a publisher, you don’t need to sign up to AMCOS.
While APRA represents members worldwide by default, you can choose Australasian or Worldwide representation for Reproduction Rights.
Go to the Rights Management Hub in the Portal, to:
- review what rights APRA and AMCOS manage on your behalf,
- view your original signed documents,
- add AMCOS membership or,
- request changes or make an enquiry.
If you’re an unpublished APRA writer member and want to join AMCOS as a writer member, proceed through the eligibility check list and if you are eligible to join, you can choose Australasian or Worldwide representation for your Reproduction Rights.
Earning international royalties in the USA
Performing rights royalties (APRA):
Most countries only have one performing right organisation (PRO) and/or reproduction right management organisation.
However, in the USA, there are multiple PROs.
APRA AMCOS has agreements with all major US PROs, including the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Inc (BMI) and the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC). However, unpublished APRA members are designated to ASCAP by default.
If you are unpublished, it’s your choice as to maintain the ASCAP designation, or choose a different one. So do some research on each US-based PRO: ASCAP, BMI SESAC.
If you choose to have your works designated through a PRO other than ASCAP, for example, BMI or SESAC, you should notify us before, or as soon as, your music is available in the USA. Changing your designated PRO later will take some time to process.
Performance royalties are for when your music is:
- performed live;
- broadcast; or
- otherwise publicly performed, for instance as recorded music in retail stores or bars
If you are unpublished and want to discuss your US designation options, please contact us.
What if I am published?
Firstly, it’s important to notify APRA AMCOS when you sign any kind of publishing deal to ensure we can correctly manage your rights.
If you have a publishing deal that covers the territory of the USA (which includes sub-publishing agreements), it’s likely that your US publisher will have a preferred PRO. This means your publisher will register your works through one PRO and your works will be paid from that PRO.
If your publishing deal does not include the USA, you will be considered by APRA AMCOS as an ‘unpublished writer’ in that territory and automatically designated to ASCAP. If you would like to discuss your options for designation in the US, please contact us.
Why this matters
In the USA, performance and reproduction royalties are handled by separate organisations. The designated PRO only affects your performance royalties.
Reproduction rights royalties (AMCOS):
APRA AMCOS has agreements with both the Harry Fox Agency (HFA) and the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) in the USA. If unpublished writers are opted in for the collection of US reproduction royalties as part of their AMCOS agreements, then HFA and MLC will collect any royalties that may have been collected and earned and pass them onto AMCOS to distribute.