WIPO and Music Rights Awareness Foundation to Collaborate in Favor of Creators

Geneva/Orebro, August 10, 2020
PR/2020/859

(Released jointly by WIPO and the Music Rights Awareness Foundation)

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Music Rights Awareness Foundation (MRAF) have joined forces to support creators around the world in ensuring they are recognized and fairly remunerated for their work by increasing knowledge and awareness of their intellectual property (IP) rights.

An agreement signed by WIPO Director General Francis Gurry and MRAF Co-Founders Björn Ulvaeus, Niclas Molinder and Max Martin, establishes a Consortium that will initiate activities to raise awareness of IP rights for creators around the world.  The Charter for the WIPO for Creators consortium sets the conditions of participation by interested parties, which is open to both members and sponsors from the public or private sectors.

“This agreement is of critical importance to creators as it unites the expertise of two organizations with very specific mandates in helping creators the world over to monetize their creations,” Mr. Gurry said.  “The current COVID-19 crisis has reinforced the importance of the creative industries in society and the need to ensure that creators are justly remunerated for their work – this can only happen through an effective copyright system that provides both the incentives and the rewards for the creative process in an increasingly global and interconnected digital content marketplace.”

ABBA star Björn Ulvaeus welcomed the agreement with WIPO noting “I am grateful and proud that WIPO is supporting this endeavor and that we will work together to raise awareness and increase knowledge of intellectual property rights for creators worldwide through education and support programs. We are delighted that under our partnership with WIPO, we now have a forum for realizing this vision together with all interested and willing partners from the public and private sector.”

Songwriter and producer Niclas Molinder who is also Chair of the MRAF welcomed the collaboration with WIPO and the public-private sector partnership in the form of a consortium, noting “This new collaboration is an important step forward in improving the situation of creators. The purpose of "WIPO for Creators” is to educate and raise awareness about fundamental IP rights so that creators the world over can be properly compensated and credited when their work is used. I am really looking forward to working with WIPO on achieving this common goal.”

This initiative is particularly significant as the creative content marketplace has become increasingly complex and data-driven.  It therefore becomes more important for creators to understand the crucial role of data management in order to effectively exercise their intellectual property rights.

For more information about joining the Consortium, please contact us.