GWVR and BVMI have concluded a master contract on the licensing of live recordings
After a long period of negotiation, the Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von
Veranstalterrechten (GWVR) and the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) signed their
first master contract on 06/07/2020. The contract regulates the licensing of recordings
from events of GWVR members to facilitate publishing on audio and audiovisual media devices and in online selections of BVMI members (stream and download).
The master contract provides for the publishing of live music recordings on audio and visual media with remuneration set between 4% and 1.71% of the trade price. The specific
amount depends on the total play time of the protected recording contained on the audio
media device.
For online selections, the rights holders receive remuneration totalling 4.5% of the amount
received by the licence holder for the use of their recordings by online services.
BVMI members receive both an introductory discount and, as is common in corresponding
contracts with collecting organisations, a master contract discount. The contract was retroactively concluded from 2017 until the end of 2021. Members of the GWVR are also entitled to remuneration for uses from the previous three years.
Dr Johannes Ulbricht, director of GWVR comments: “The master contract essentially follows the settlement proposal of the arbitration boards of the German Patent and Trade
Mark Office. We are very pleased with having finally obtained a settlement with the BVMI
and its members on remuneration for organiser rights. The GWVR can at long last commence its day-to-day operations. Our next steps will be to claim the appropriate remuneration from online platforms and radio and television broadcasters.
Prof Jens Michow, President of the Bundesverband der Konzert- und Veranstaltungswirtschaft, sole shareholder of the GWVR, adds: “With the conclusion of its first master contract, the GWVR has both broken new ground based on the regulations of our copyright within Germany and internationally and enforced rights which are almost nonexistent in other countries in this form. The ability to claim rights from the contract is also not limited to organisers within Germany, rather it extends to all organisers whose registered office is situated in the European Union and who are members of the GWVR.”
Dr Florian Drücke, chairperson of the board of the BVMI: “I am pleased that after long and
intensive discussions we have reached an agreement with organisers. It is common
knowledge that for many years organiser rights were exercised by beneficiaries without
collecting societies. We see the master contract as an advance in trust and hope that organisers will establish a suitable organisational structure promptly to facilitate the exercising of rights in accordance with the guidelines of the Collecting Societies Act. This settlement can serve as a signal that the music industry stands together in these difficult times, finds amicable solutions in spite of tough negotiations in the spirit of the music market, and finally that we support one another.
Hamburg, 15 July 2020.
