Collection Agreement

Collection Agreement

 

Collection Agreement

 between

 SAMPLE

(following named as „entitled person“)

 and the

GESELLSCHAFT ZUR WAHRNEHMUNG VON VERANSTALTERRECHTEN (GWVR) mbH,

represented by the managing director Dr. Johannes Ulbricht

Lenhartzstr. 15, 20249 Hamburg

 (following named as „collecting society“ or „GWVR“)

 the following agreement is closed:

 

§ 1

(1) The entitled person transfers, as a trustee, all rights and claims, which result from the Copyright Act (UrhG) for organisers according to § 81 UrhG and originally arise from it, which are currently transferred to the entitled person or claims under § 81 UrhG, which are transferred to the entitled person during the contractual period (in the following named as “organiser rights”), to the GWVR.

With the exception of the following claims

  1. the reproduction for private or other use (§ 54 UrhG);
  2. the reproduction of school broadcasts, as far as the produced recordings are not deleted at the end of the following school year (§ 47 (2) UrhG);
  3. the reproduction for collections for the purpose of church, school or teaching use up to a number of 10.000 copies (§ 46 (4) UrhG);
  4. the reproduction and distribution of video or audio recording mediums for disabled people, as far as it is necessary for the sensory perception (§ 45a (2) UrhG);
  5. the public availability of video and audio recording mediums for teaching and research (§ 52a UrhG);
  6. the playback of works on electronic reading places in public libraries, museums and archives (§ 52b UrhG);

(2) The entitled person transfers the following rights in detail: The right to broadcast in radio and television, the right to playback on speakers, the right for film screenings, the right to record on audio, video and other data carriers and the right to produce and distribute audio, video and other data carriers, the right to provide availability to the public, as well as the rights of use, which result from technical or legal further development of the above named types of use.

(3) Upon application the entitled person has the possibility to acquire a free of remuneration, non commercial licence for the above named rights, which may grant himself or any other persons of his choice the right for non-commercial purposes.

(4) The assignment of rights is given territorial unlimited, as far as the entitled person does not declare a written limitation to certain territories. The GWVR shall be entitled to exercise and evaluate the rights transferred to it in its own name. This shall include the right to further transfer the rights, wholly or partially, transferred to the GWVR, to prohibit at one’s own discretion the use of the rights and to enforce the prohibition in a matter that considers the GWVR most appropriate in court and out-of-court and it shall be entitled to asset claims for damages. The GWVR may receive remunerations for the exploitation of the rights and payments for damages in its own name.

(5) The entitled person will provide the GWVR with the required information and documents to identify and manage his rights and claims and will explain the calculation basis of this information. As far as rights and claims have been transferred to him he will submit the agreements on request. The entitled person shall inform the GWVS promptly and in writing of any changes in address or changes within the company as well as their insolvency, other leave of business or the loss of legal capacity.

(6) The claims of the entitled person towards the GWVS are only assignable with the consent of the GWVS.

 

§ 2

Future changes or amendments of the collection agreement – for example regarding new types of use – also apply as a change of the present contract, as far as the entitled person does not specifically object to the modification or addition through a postal registered letter within two months after the date of the dispatch of the written notification of the modifications or additions by the GWVR. This legal consequence has to be pointed out in the notification.

 

§ 3

(1) In case of death of one of the entitled persons the collection agreement will continue with its legal successor. The legal successor has to prove his ownership of rights by a certificate of inheritance or any issued certificate by the probate court. Until the proof of the ownership of rights is given the GWVR is not obligated for payment.

(2) Every legal successor of a deceased entitled person is obligated to inform the GWVS about the case of death within four weeks after taking note of it. In case an obligor does not fulfil his obligation and thus the GWVS makes undue payments, the GWVS is entitled to demand repayment of these undue payments without the payee being entitled to claim the omission of enrichment according to § 818 (3) BGB (German Civil Code)

(3) If there are no claims regarding the legal succession within two years after the death of the entitled person and the credit notes of the unknown legal successor do not reach an amount of 1.000,- € in two following years the collection agreement ends at the end of the following fiscal year.

(4) These arrangements apply for legal persons respective in case of insolvency, liquidation or any other loss of legal capacity.

 

§ 4

The agreement begins from the date the parties signed it. It can be terminated on the 31. December of each year by written notice, observing a three-month period of notice. The entitled person can withdraw rights of his choice in types of subject matters of his choice respectively with each territory of his choice from the GWVS within this period. Notice of termination and the withdrawal of rights must be given in written form. With the termination of the agreement the transferred rights will be returned to the entitled person at the end of the calendar year. Nevertheless, the altercation regarding the re-transferred rights shall happen in a way that the licensees of the GWVR, whose contracts have been concluded for the use of rights of the resigned entitled person before the termination of this deed of assignment and exist beyond the date of expiration of this deed of assignment, remain authorized for the use for the entire duration of their contracts to avoid disturbance of the evaluation of the event records. The settlement of the amounts thus to be received by the resigned entitled person shall happen in regard to the regulations of the distribution plan of the GWVR.

 

§ 5

(1) The entitled person assures, that

a) he is the sole owner of the rights registered by him and

b) the rights transferred to the GWVS in regards to this agreement are not transferred to a third party or being burdened with rights of a third party and

c) at the time the contract is concluded no other obligations exist, which could impede the assignment of rights agreed to in this agreement.

(2) The entitled person exempts the GWVR, their acting persons and licensees in connection with the above named assurance from all rights and claims of a third party.

 

§ 6

(1) The entitled person commits himself for payment of an admission fee with the signing of this agreement, if an admission fee was not already paid otherwise.

(2) The admission fee is based on the last fiscal year annual turnover of the entitled person (before conclusion of this agreement) and has a maximum of 300,- €.

(3) An entitled person, who started his business activity in the fiscal year before the conclusion of the agreement and therefore can not present annual accounts, pays an admission fee of 100,- €.

(4) In reasonable hardship cases the admission fee in accordance to paragraph 2 can be waived. The entitled person has to request this at the advisory board of the GWVR in writing.

(5) The advisory board decides upon changes to the admission fee.

 

§ 7

(1) The possible invalidity or ineffectiveness of individual provisions of this agreement shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. The parties are then obligated to replace the deficient provision by a provision whose economic and legal sense comes closest to that of the deficient provision.

(2) The articles of association of the GWVR and the distribution plan in their respective version are an integral part of this agreement.

(3) German law applies exclusively for this agreement the. Hamburg shall be the sole place of jurisdiction.

 

§ 8

The entitled person is entitled to the implementation of a proper complaints procedure (§ 33 VGG). Complaints must be submitted in text form (email or written form) to the GWVR. The management decides on the complaints within one month and must give reasons for its decision in writing. An appeal against the decision of the management may be lodged within one month. The Advisory Board shall decide on the appeal and shall also give reasons for its decision in writing. The subject of the appeal can be any action or omission of the GWVR by which members or beneficiaries are affected in their economic or ideal interests, in particular also:

1. the admission and termination of the exercise of rights or the withdrawal of rights;
2. the conditions of membership and the terms and conditions for exercising rights;
3. the collection, administration and distribution of the income from the rights;
4. the deductions from the income from the rights

The GWVR specifically points out to the §§ 9-12 of the German Act on the Management of Copyright and Related Rights by Collecting Societies (VGG) and the resulting rights for the entitled person.

9-12 VGG reads as follows:

 

  • §9 Obligation to manage

The collecting society shall be obliged, at the request of the right holder, to manage rights of his choice in types of works and other subject matters of his choice, in territories of his choice if

  1. the rights, the works and other subject matters, and the territories belong to the scope of activity of the collecting society and
  2. there are no objective reasons to preclude the exercise of the management.

The conditions under which the collecting society manages the rights of the entitled person (conditions of management) shall be appropriate.

 

  • § 10 Consent to management

Where a collecting society manages copyright or related rights under a contractual arrangement with the right holder, it shall obtain the consent of the right holder to manage each individual right and shall evidence such consent in documentary form. The arrangement shall be made in written form, also in so far as rights are granted for future works.

 

  • § 11 Non-commercial uses

The collecting society shall lay down conditions under which the entitled person may grant any person the right to use his works or other subject matters for non-commercial purposes, even if he has granted or transferred authorisation for the management of the rights in them to the collecting society.

 

  • 1§ 2 Termination of management; withdrawal of rights

(1) The collecting society shall lay down in the conditions of management that the entitled person, upon serving reasonable notice not exceeding six months, may terminate the management relationship as a whole or may withdraw from the collecting society rights of his choice in types of works and other subject matters of his choice, for territories of his choice in each case.

(2) The conditions of management may stipulate that such termination of the management relationship or withdrawal of rights shall not take effect until the end of the financial year.

(3) The collecting society shall continue to collect, manage and distribute the rights revenue under the general provisions even if the entitled person is entitled to rights revenue

  1. for uses in the period before the termination of the management relationship or the withdrawal of rights took effect or
  2. from a right of use which the collecting society granted before the termination of the management relationship or the withdrawal of rights took effect.

 

 

 

Hamburg, date……………………….                        place, date……………………………..

 

………………………………………                      ……………………………………………

Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von                              SAMPLE

von Veranstalterrechten (GWVR) mbH