If you are living, earning royalties or touring overseas, we’re with you every step of the way.
What about copyright in other countries?
Most countries have copyright laws similar to Australia. If your work is protected here, it will also be protected in most other territories. This is because most countries (including Australia) have signed international treaties and conventions requiring signatories to provide minimum standards of protection for copyright material from all countries party to the treaty.
Australian copyright works are protected in about 133 countries, including Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. Similarly, works from these and other territories will also be protected in Australia. It is important to note that the term of protection may differ in other territories, and you may wish to seek specific advice on this matter.
My co-writer who is a member of an overseas society has already been paid by their society for overseas performances of our works there. How long will it take for me to get paid?
There is always a time lag between performances overseas and payments for those performances reaching us. The timing depends on how often the society makes their distributions. In some cases this can be up to two years after the performance took place. Societies are obliged to account to us within 90 days of paying their own members. We make “mini” distributions to writer members for overseas royalties each month. Please contact us for more information.
I was told overseas that I need to form a publishing company to collect my mechanical royalties. Is this true?
While in some countries forming a publishing company is necessary to collect your mechanical royalties, this is not required in Australia. If you represent your own catalogue, then you can market, promote and exploit it without needing to form a publishing company.
The music industry is full of jargon. Use our plain-English glossary to understand what the more obscure terms mean.