Business news labels and editors
By Chris Cooke | Posted on Thursday, September 23, 2021
Polish song rights management company ZAiKS will now allow music publishers to become members, it has been announced. This comes after 20 years of campaigning by the Polish music publishing industry, with the support of the International Forum of Independent Music Publishers.
Most song rights collecting societies – especially those representing performing rights to songs – have both songwriters and music publishers as members.
For published writers, when the company collects money, it then pays a portion of the royalties directly to the writer and a portion to the writer’s publisher, called the “writer’s share†and “the writer’s share†respectively. from the publisher â€. Writers and editors then also have a role to play in overseeing the governance of the company and how it distributes the money it collects.
However, in Poland, to date, music publishers have not been able to join ZAiKS, which represents both the performing rights and the mechanical rights to the songs of its members.
Publishers have been able to collect the publisher’s share of money since the 1990s, but have played no role in the governance of the company, which is by far the largest collective management organization in Central and Eastern Europe. .
Thanks to this new agreement – also supported by CISAC, the global grouping of song rights collecting societies – publishers will now be officially represented in ZAiKS, with two seats on the company’s board of directors and one within its audit committee.
Welcoming this decision, Andreas Schubert of Schubert Music – also president of the Polish professional music publishing organization PSWM – said: “Music publishers have not been members or represented in ZAiKS since the early 1950s. It took years of work to right this wrong. It is only with the help of our colleagues at IMPF and the great support of CISAC that we could finally change the situation â€.
“Now the music editors are back at ZAiKS and ready to work alongside the other members. We will add our different business perspective and approach to continue the success of this powerful collection company, helping ZAiKS adapt to the future market and the changing legislative environment â€.
Another editor who campaigned for the change, Paulina Golba of Golba Music, adds: “This is a great day for the entire editorial community. This achievement would not be possible without the commitment of many colleagues here at PSWM and internationally. I particularly appreciate the support of CISAC and IMPF and hope that the presence of publishers at ZAiKS can open a new chapter in the relationship between societies and publishers in Poland, for the benefit of all composers and authors. “.
Also welcoming the change at ZAiKS, IMPF President Annette Barrett said: “We are really delighted that this long-awaited moment has arrived. It was great to have worked so successfully with CISAC; our strategic alignment and excellent relationships have enabled us to jointly contribute to this success. The IMPF has actively supported its members on this historic issue and has been able to bring strong political and advocacy resources to the table. We are delighted for our members, colleagues and friends in Poland â€.
