WIPO and CISAC Announce New Repertoire Data Agreement to Support Collective Management Organizations

Geneva/Paris, July 30, 2020
PR/2020/858

(Released jointly by WIPO, CISAC and SUISA)

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) today announced an important advancement in their cooperation, with a particular benefit for Collective Management Organizations (CMOs)¹ representing creators in developing countries.

WIPO Director General Francis Gurry and CISAC Director General Gadi Oron signed an agreement that will allow CMOs to manage their repertoire and share it with other CMOs beyond their borders using CISAC’s CIS-Net international repertoire database.

Under the agreement, CISAC-member CMOs using WIPO Connect, a new software tool developed by WIPO for CMOs in developing countries, will have access to an enhanced solution to facilitate their participation in CISAC’s international information systems network. It has been specifically designed to improve CMOs’ international coverage and boost the earnings of creators and publishers who have their rights managed by those CMOs.

This new CISAC-WIPO partnership follows an agreement signed earlier this year on metadata between WIPO and SUISA, the Swiss authors’ CMO and a CISAC member. Under that agreement, WIPO Connect user societies obtain access to the global system for identifying authors, composers and publishers - the IPI system - managed by SUISA on behalf of CISAC.  With this agreement and the new one now concluded with CISAC, WIPO Connect users will be able to share their domestic repertoires on the international information exchange systems operated by CISAC.  This will help to accurately identify internationally the repertoire of authors and composers who belong to societies using WIPO Connect, and allow them to be remunerated.

“I welcome these agreements which will pave the way for Collective Management Organizations in all WIPO member states to participate in the global copyright infrastructure and remunerate authors and composers’ for their music that is played abroad,” said Mr. Gurry. He added that “WIPO and CISAC have a longstanding and fruitful cooperation and we share the mission of promoting the creative sector’s contribution to cultural, social and economic development. In today’s global digital content marketplace, providing CMOs in developing countries with an IT solution that is linked to industry databases and tools is essential in realizing this mission.”

Mr. Oron said “We are very pleased to conclude this agreement with WIPO and help support societies in development around the world. WIPO connect has huge potential for societies who currently struggle to take part in our international information exchange systems. With this new tool and the agreement now concluded, WIPO is better placed to support these societies’ efforts to receive royalties from abroad and to provide better services to the creators and publishers they represent.”

SUISA CEO Andreas Wegelin said “SUISA welcomes its agreement with WIPO, which will help identify and document more authors, composers and publishers, especially in developing countries. SUISA and WIPO are both providing training and assistance to music societies in Africa and other emerging markets and we hope that our agreement will contribute to effective and efficient solutions for our sister societies using WIPO Connect.”