Collective management organisations (CMOs) are organisations controlled or owned by their members (rights holders, entities representing rights holders, other collecting societies) and/or organised on a not-for-profit basis. CMOs ensure that their members receive payment for copyright-protected uses of their works and other subject matter.

Cullen International’s latest research in the Americas shows that all the countries covered in the region have adopted laws to regulate CMOs, while only Chile, Peru and the US allow independent management entities. 

In most of the countries CMOs and individual authors who decide to manage their rights independently set the tariffs, while in Argentina only the CMO sets the tariff.  

Proportionality and objectivity are the most common criteria that govern the setting of tariffs in the region, while transparency requirements for users (e.g. to publish annually balances and a report of activities) is required by law only in Chile, Colombia and Peru.   

Cullen International’s newly designed Americas Media benchmark shows:

• the state of art of the regulation of CMOs;
• the rules for setting of tariffs with the users;
• the countries that already have dispute resolution procedures in place and the types of disputes covered; and
• the interplay between CMOs and the competition law regime.

To access the full benchmark, please click on “Access the full content” - or on “Request Access”, in case you are not subscribed to our Americas Media Service.