AUTHORS' SOCIETIES

Authors' societies are non profit making societies which collectively manage the rights of their members on their behalf. These societies exist only by and for their members who, confronted with the increasingly intensive and diversified uses of their works, cannot on their own ensure the defence of their rights.

Authors' societies serve as an intermediary between the users and the authors :

• they authorise the use of protected works;
• they collect and distribute to national or foreign
  authors (by reciprocal agreements entered into with collecting societies in other countries) the remuneration due for the utilization of their works on a given territory.

Management is complex and concerns widely differing rights:

• public performance rights;
  
• reproduction rights;
  
• "droit de suite";
  
• home copying;
  
• lending and rental rights;
  
• reprographic rights;
  
• broadcasting and cable retransmission rights...
  

Management costs are deducted from the sums collected. In addition to their task of management of rights, some author's societies have developed social and cultural activities such as the support of young talent, the economic support for the realization of innovative projects and the promotion of their repertoire.