Music is widely used in businesses worldwide.
In most countries the law on copyright and related rights requires entrepreneurs to pay remuneration for the public performance of phonograms and videograms to the local collective rights management organizations. For many owners of clubs, pubs and restaurants as well as production plants and service points, music is a natural element of their business. That is why they think of the due fees as a profitable investment.
In all EU member states there are collecting societies, which represent the authors, performers and producers and collect, on behalf of these rightholders, remuneration for the public use of phonograms and videograms.
Typically, there would be two collecting societies in one territory: one would administer the rights of authors and the other one - the rights of producers and performers(jointly). Such system works well in the UK, France and Italy.
In other countries, including Poland, producers and performers may administer their rights separately – we can find such model in Belgium, Spain or Portugal.The collecting societies representing producers have an additional mandate: membership in the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
Regardless of the collecting society model, the requirement to pay due remuneration for the public performance of phonograms remains unchanged.
