Collective Societies
A collective society is an organization that administers the rights of several copyright owners. It can grant permission to use their works and set the conditions for that use. Collective management is widespread in Canada, particularly for music performance rights, reprography and mechanical reproduction rights. Some collective societies are affiliated with foreign societies whose members they represent in Canada.
The Copyright Act allows collectives to file tariff proposals with the Board and negotiate agreements to set the royalties for the rights they manage. The Board then assesses the proposals by analyzing the documents and the evidence filed and, at the end of the process, if the Board approves the proposals, the tariffs are certified.
Collective societies submit their tariff proposals once a year, at the latest on October 15 of the second calendar year preceding their period of application (e.g. for a tariff to take effect in 2023, the draft tariff should be submitted to the Commission no later than October 15, 2021). The tariffs proposals must be valid for a minimum period of three years.
Audio-Visual and Multimedia
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, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Pixar Animation, MGM Studios, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, DisneyNature, Screen Gems, Tri-Star, Entertainment One, VVS, Remstar, Summit, Christal Films, among others. It distributes films in 16MM, 35MM, DCP, videocassette, DVD/Blu-ray and digital.
www.writersguildofcanada.com/screenwriters/cscs
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.
Christian Video Licensing International (CVLI) is a copyright collection agency that has been serving the faith-based market since 2000. CVLI provides churches and other religious institutions a license that allows for the public performance of copyrighted motion pictures and other audiovisual programs within their facilities. The institutions can choose titles from over 330 producers and distributors.
Criterion Pictures is the non-theatrical distributor of feature films for many of Hollywood’s Major Motion Picture Studios. We offer movies to the non-theatrical market on three primary mediums: Digital Cinema Package (DCP), Blu-Ray and DVD.
The majority of our films are available months before the home video release date. Our customers use these films for film programs across the country. Many Canadian schools, College and University Student Councils, Bus Companies, Hotels, Recreation Centres and Public Libraries show movies as fund raisers or special events on a regular basis. Contact us for a list of exclusive films provided by our Hollywood Studio partners.
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 not-for-profit copyright collective founded by the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA). On behalf of producers and rights holders, it collects, allocates and distributes royalties arising from most secondary uses, in a number of countries, of their productions, including specifically, from the sale of blank audiovisual recording media and devices (often referred to as "private copy levies"), from the rental and lending of video recordings, from exhibition or public performance rights, and from educational copying and performance of audiovisual works.
The Société civile des auteurs multimédia (SCAM) is an international Francophone society tasked by its members with negotiating licences in particular with conventional and specialty broadcasters, video on demand services, 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.
Educational Rights
The Educational Rights Collective of Canada (ERCC) was 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.
On December 19, 2013, the Copyright Board of Canada agreed to eliminate the years 2014 to 2016 from the certified tariff; hence, ERCC could no longer collect royalties.
On October 14, 2014, Corporations Canada accepted the surrender of ERCC's Charter and dissolved the corporation, having confirmed the latter complied with all dissolution provisions of Section 32 of the Canada Corporations Act.
Literary (Literary works, dramatic works, texts, etc.)
Access Copyright, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, represents writers, visual artists and publishers for the reproduction, communication to the public and making available rights of works published in books, magazines, journals and newspapers. Access Copyright provides access to copyrighted materials by filing tariffs and negotiating licenses that permit uses of works in its repertoire by user groups such as schools, universities, colleges, governments and corporations in Canada (excluding Quebec).
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 to Quebec, Canadian and foreign playwrights whose works are performed in public or private teaching institutions at the pre-school, primary and secondary levels, royalties provided for in the financial agreement concluded with the Ministry of Education of Quebec (MEQ).
Owned by the Association québécoise des autrices et auteurs dramatiques (AQAD), SoQAD represents the AQAD members and is mandated to negotiate their multi-practice contracts. The AQAD also mandates the SoQAD to conclude particular agreements with different partners or institutions.
Media Monitoring
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).
Music
www.actra.ca/prs/
actraracs.ca/
As a division of ACTRA Performers' Rights Society ("ACTRA PRS"), ACTRA Recording Artists' Collecting Society ("ACTRA RACS") is a not for profit organization that has been collecting and disbursinhttps://ca.ccli.com/https://musiciansrights.ca/en/?lang=frg equitable remuneration for eligible recording artists for over ten years. Equitable remuneration monies are received through certified tariffs, including private copying and reciprocal agreements.
Artisti is the collective society of the Union des artistes (UDA) for the remuneration of performers' rights.
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.
CMRRA-SODRAC INC. (CSI), a collective society incorporated in 2002, is a joint venture of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA) and the Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers in Canada and SODRAC 2003 Inc. (SODRAC). These collectives have granted CSI an exclusive mandate to license the reproduction of musical works in their repertoires for certain uses to various music users, including radio stations, background music services or online music services. CSI licenses its repertoire by way of tariffs certified by the Copyright Board of Canada or by way of privately negotiated agreements.
Together, CMRRA and SODRAC represent the vast majority of songwriters and music publishers whose songs are active in the Canadian market place. CSI’s role is to provide a convenient one-stop licensing shop to access a worldwide music repertoire for use in Canada.
Connect Music Licensing administers licences in Canada for the reproduction of sound recordings, and the reproduction and broadcast of music videos on behalf of the copyright owners (usually the record companies). Its members, which consist of all the major record companies, many independent labels, as well as artists and producers, own or control the vast majority of the copyright of all the sound recordings and music videos produced and/or distributed in Canada. Connect Music Licensing also distributes royalties to its members for the communication, public performance or private copying of their eligible sound recordings.
Musicians' Rights Organization Canada (MROC) is a non-profit copyright collective that collects and redistributes to its musicians royalties and remuneration flowing from Re:Sound and similar societies around the world. Those monies arise out of the radio airplay, public performance and private copying (the blank CD levy) of sound recordings on which musicians have performed.
Re:Sound (formerly known as the Neighbouring Rights Collective of Canada) is the Canadian not-for-profit music licensing company dedicated to obtaining fair compensation for artists and record companies for their performance rights. On behalf of its members, representing thousands of artists and record companies, Re:Sound licenses recorded music for public performance, broadcast and new media.
Re:Sound is also a member of the Canadian Private Copying Collective, created to receive private copying levies from the manufacturers and importers of blank audio recording media.
Société de gestion collective des droits des producteurs de phonogrammes et vidéogrammes du Québec (SOPROQ) is a non-profit copyright collective society founded in 1991 whose mission is to ensure that the Quebec makers of sound and video recordings maximize the royalties they are owed in virtue of copyright legislation in Canada and other foreign countries.
The Société de gestion des droits des artistes-musiciens Inc. (SOGEDAM) was 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.
On September 19, 2005, Corporations Canada dissolved SOGEDAM.
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.
In 2018, SOCAN acquired SODRAC. As a result, SOCAN will now be responsible for both the public performance rights and the reproduction rights for some works. There will be a transition period during which the repertoires of each of the collective societies will be managed by SOCAN. When all SODRAC’s rights holders have transferred their reproduction rights to SCOAN, SODRAC will cease to exist.
Private Copying
The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) is an umbrella organization whose member collectives represent songwriters, recording artists, music publishers and record companies. The CPCC is the non-profit organization responsible for collecting private copying levies and distributing the levies to rights holders through its member collectives. The member collectives of the CPCC are: Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA), Re: Sound Music Licensing Company, Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers in Canada (SODRAC) and Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN).
Retransmission
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) is a not-for-profit corporation founded by the Canadian Media Production Association and is one of a number of collective societies sanctioned by the Copyright Board of Canada to collect royalties from retransmitters and distribute them to the program owners they represent. CRC represents independent Canadian program producers, producers of programs shown on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and Réseau France Outre-mer (RFO), educational TV producers in Canada (except Tele-Quebec), all foreign producers and broadcasters outside North America, and producers of music videos used in Canadian programs. The CRC represents U.S. programs only when they are retransmitted on a PBS station or RFO.
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.
www.copyrightcollectivecanada.org
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).
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.
FWS Joint Sports Claimants Inc. (FWS) represents the following major league sports leagues and their member teams: the National Hockey League (NHL), the Canadian Football League (CFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Football League (NFL). The programs for which copyright royalties are claimed are the over the air broadcasts of games (or excerpts from the broadcasts of games) between the member teams that are on signals retransmitted as distant signals by Canadian cable, satellite and other retransmission systems.
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.
In 2018, SOCAN acquired SODRAC. As a result, SOCAN will now be responsible for both the public performance rights and the reproduction rights for some works. There will be a transition period during which the repertoires of each of the collective societies will be managed by SOCAN. When all SODRAC’s rights holders have transferred their reproduction rights to SCOAN, SODRAC will cease to exist.
Visual Arts (photographs, paintings, etc.)
Copyright Visual Arts is a not-for-profit copyright management society providing Author’s Rights administration for professional Canadian and Québécois visual and media artists. It provides Users with a comprehensive access to the artworks and professional services of its members. Its corporate name is Canadian Artists’ Representation Copyright Collective and it operates under the business names Copyright Visual Arts and Droit d’auteur Arts visuels.