Centre for Intellectual Property Policy & Management (CIPPM), Bournemouth University
Abstract
Copyright Collecting Societies have proliferated, with more than 150
organisations now collecting and distributing licensing fees for rights in music,
literary, audio-visual and graphic works within the European Union. From the
perspective of Competition Law, collecting societies may be viewed as price-fixing
cartels under Art. 81 EC, and as vulnerable to challenges under Art. 82 EC (i.e.
abusing a dominant position as the sole provider of a management infrastructure to
right holders, and as the only supplier of licences to copyright users). Yet, collective
administration of copyright has important policy benefits: (i) From a user
perspective, collecting societies may offer a single point licence providing easy and
wide access to copyright protected contents. This can be a solution to innovation
issues in an information society where major right holders otherwise may dictate
problematic terms. (ii) Creators at the margins of commercial viability have access to
a mechanism of collective bargaining against major rights exploiters, such as
publishers, record labels and broadcasters. This may support a culturally diverse
society. This article develops principles for regulating the collective management of
copyrights from a critique of EC competition jurisprudence
