Copydan - the Joint Collecting Society
Almost everyone in modern society has the opportunity to use works protected by copyright. This can take the form of copying newspaper articles, for instance, pictures, books, and magazines, music, and films. When we include the secondary use of TV signals distributed by cable, we are actually all daily users of copyright works.The artists who create the original works and the publishers and producers who invest in making them available to a broader public would be unable to make a living if they allowed other people to use these works free of charge. Copyright owners are usually unable to manage this on their own.This is where Copydan comes into the picture. Copydan safeguards the interests of Danish and foreign copyright owners in connection with any secondary use in Denmark, enters into collective agreements with users, collects fees, and guarantees that they go to the right people, i.e. the copyright owners.
All rights under one roof
Copydan is a more comprehensive organisation than most of its counterparts in other countries. This is because we have gathered all groups of copyright owners in Denmark – creative and performing artists, as well as producers and publishers – in a single organisation.
This ensures that Copydan has maximum breadth and management expertise, something that not only benefits Danish copyright owners, but also the many copyright owners abroad.
Common interests
Copydan secures terms on the basis of copyright legislation for the use of works, something that benefits both copyright owners and users. Agreements are entered into that permit the use of protected works in accordance with specific terms and conditions and in return for the payment of a suitable fee.
As Copydan represents the rights of the majority of Danish copyright owners and – through reciprocal agreements with affiliated organisations – those of most foreign copyright owners, Copydan is entitled to negotiate extended collective licences for all owners in pursuance of the Danish Copyright Act.
This naturally places Copydan in a very strong bargaining position in relation to users, which again benefits authors, performers, producers, and publishers. In addition, an extended collective licence protects users against further claims from copyright owners who are not associated with Copydan or its affiliated organisations.
Copydans activities are distributed between five independent collecting societies that manage different copyright areas, and an umbrella organisation that provides such facilities as staff management, accounting, and IT services, etc., in order to provide optimum service. Each society is responsible for all copyright owners – authors, performers, producers, and publishers – within its area. In practice, the many different copyright owners' interest organisations are members of one or more Copydan Societies, and the board of each society comprises elected representatives of these member organisations.
Each of the five societies has its own executive manager and special staff, but as far as possible common tasks are left to the Joint Collecting Society Copydan. This structure is designed to ensure a high degree of expertise and the lowest possible management costs – all for the benefit of copyright owners.
Individual distribution
As far as possible, Copydan strives to distribute the fees collected individually – direct to each copyright owner. Several of the societies not only collect fees from a large number of debtors, they also have to calculate and pay the individual copyright owners direct for the use of their works, performances, and products.
Other Copydan Societies leave this individual distribution to copyright owners' affiliated organisations. In some cases, where copyright owners cannot be identified or where the amount of the fee involved does not warrant individual distribution, collective funds are established from which members of the copyright owners' organisations and copyright owners who are not affiliated with an organisation can apply for support for specific projects, studies, and other relevant purposes.
In this way, Copydan collects millions of small amounts of money in return for the use of copyright works and distributes it to thousands of Danish authors, artists, and publishers, and to similar affiliated organisations abroad.
The overall supervision of these activities is the responsibility of the umbrella organisation, the Joint Collecting Society Copydan, which comprises two representatives (one author or performer and one publisher or producer) from each of the five specialised societieSince it was founded in 1977, Copydan has constantly increased the volume of its business and thereby increased the fees paid to copyright owners through the administration of rights covered by agreements.
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