 
Collecting Societies Act 2016  (Verwertungsgesellschaften gesetz 2016 — VerwGesG 2016)  
 
Table of Contents  
Nature/Renewal Subject/designation  
1 rd section  
General einer  
§ 1. Subject of this Federal Act  
§ 2. Definitions  
2 paragraph authorisation for  
perception  
§ 3. Requirement and conditions for authorisation to perceive the sign  
§ 4. Independent CMO  
§ 5. Home professional business management  
§ 6. Organisation rules  
§ 7. Monopoly principle  
§ 8. Procedure  
§ 9. Duration and publication of authorisation for perception  
§ 10. Delimitation of perception authorisations  
§ 11. Transfer of perception and association of collective management organisations  
3 rd section  
membership and corporate record  
§ 12. Membership  
§ 13. CMO bodies  
§ 14. Meeting of Members  
§ 15. Participation and vote  
§ 16. Delegation meeting  
§ 17. Reference payroll  
§ 18. Collections (Cabinet -) 
§ 19. Supervision Board  
§ 20. Business management  
§ 21. Billing  
§ 22. Prevention and disclosure of conflict s of interests  
4 Section  
Rights and obligations against rightsholders and rightsholders  
§ 23. Obligation to perceive  
§ 24. Perception contract  
§ 25. Perception Picture  
§ 25a. Exercise of rights in unavailable works  
§ 25 (b). Extended collective rights perc eption  
§ 26. Licences for non -commercial use  
§ 27. Termination of the perception contract  
§ 28. Information undertakings before concluding a contracts for perception  
§ 29. Perception of rights  
§ 30. Revenue recovery and management  
§ 31. Discrimination of reference holders of other CMOs  
§ 32. Deductions  
§ 33. Social and cultural institutions  
§ 34. Distribution  
§ 35. Ironable amounts  
5 Section  
Rights and obligations towards users  
§ 36. Granting of user licences  
§ 37. Conditions and rat es of use and remuneration  
§ 38. Fees for equipment and storage media remuneration  
§ 39. Advisory gears for equipment and storage media payment  
§ 40. Response to queries, electronic communications   
6 Section  
transparency and reporting obligations  
§ 41. Bill ing to reference persons  
§ 42. Accounting against other CMOs  
§ 43. Repertoire information  
§ 44. Publication obligations  
§ 45. Transparency Report  
§ 46. Review and disclosure of the transparency report  
7 Section overall  
contracts  
§ 47. Total contracts  
§ 48. Overall eligibility for contract  
§ 49. Normative effect  
§ 50. Shape and contents  
§ 51. Publication and entry into force  
§ 52. Date of expiry  
§ 53. Contracts with the ORF and the Federal Government  
8 rd section  
for CMOs that grant multi -territorial licences for online rights to musical works  
§ 54. Requirements for CMOs that issue user licences for online services in several states  
§ 55. Referrals to the supervision  
§ 56. Repertoire information  
§ 57. Data collecti on and preservation  
§ 58. Monitoring, registration of use, billing  
§ 59. Distribution and billing  
§ 60. Contracts between CMOs  
§ 61. Obligation to perceive  
§ 62. Exception to online rights in musical works for radio and television programmes  
9nd section of  appeal  
management, dispute resolution and supervision  
1. Appeal Management  
subsection  
§ 63. Appeal Management  
2.  
Dispute resolution subsection  
§ 64. Brokerage services provided by the supervision authority  
§ 65. Dispute resolution by the Conciliation Com mittee  
3. Subsection of  
sentences  
§ 66. Sentences  
§ 67. Referral to the Conciliation Committee  
§ 68. Entry into force and publication of regulations  
4. Subdivision  
supervision  
§ 69. Supervision content  
§ 70. Communication obligations  
§ 71. Regulatory actio ns 
§ 72. Revocation of authorisation for perception  
§ 73. Effects of the withdrawal of the authorisation to perceive  
§ 74. Control of the conditions of perception contracts  
§ 75. Publications from the supervision authority  
§ 76. Cooperation with supervisors in the European Union and the European Economic 
Area  
§ 77. Cooperation with the Commission  
§ 78. Penalties   
5. Subsection  
authorities and procedures  
§ 79. Copyright -dressing  
§ 80. Copyright fees and fees  
§ 81. Proceedings before the Copyright Office  
§ 82. Arbitration Committee  
§ 83. Collective management agency  
 § 84. Financing of the supervision  
10th Section final  
and transitional provisions  
§ 85. Tax release  
§ 86. Entry into force  
§ 87. Continuation of le gal instruments  
§ 88. Adapting organisational regulations and perception contracts  
§ 89. Obligations to provide information on the perception of rights  
§ 90. Transitional provisions related to transparency and reporting obligations, distribution  
§ 91. Acce ss to multizone licensing  
§ 92. Cooperation with the Commission  
§ 93. Implementation  
Text  
1 Section  
General  
Subject of this Federal Act  
§ 1. (1) T his Federal Act implements Directive 2014/26/EU on the collective management of 
copyright and related rights a nd the granting of multiterritorial licences for rights in musical works for 
online use in the internal market, OJ L  84, 20.3.2014, p.  72. § 25a and 25b in the version of the Copyright 
Novellle 2021 ater I No 244/2021 implementing Directive (EU) 2019/790 o f 17 April 2019 on copyright 
and related rights in the digital internal market and amending Guidelines atitues.L 130 of 17.05.2019, 
p. 92. 
(2) It lays down the requirements for collective management of copyright and related rights.  
(3) The provisions of this Federal Act governing collective management organisations also apply to 
institutions which, even if only partially, are owned by a collective management organisation or are 
controlled by a collective management organisation and c arry out activities which, if carried out by a 
CMO, are subject to the provisions of that Federal Act.  
Definitions  
§ 2. Within the meaning of this Federal Act, the expression means  
1. ‘Collective management organisation ’ means an organisation that:  
 a) exc lusively or mainly aimed at exercising rights in works or related rights in a collected 
form and in the interest of several rights holders on the basis of a statutory or contractual 
authorisation; and  
b) owned by rights holders or entities represented, or controlled by rightsholders or their 
institutions, or not at profit;  
2. ‘Independent collective management organisation ’ means an organisation that perceives rights 
such as a collective management organisation, whether directly or indirectly, in whole or i n part, 
or directly or indirectly, in whole or in part by rights holders and is aimed at profits;  
3. ‘Right holder ’ means a holder of exclusive rights or rights to remuneration or participation, 
irrespective of whether they own those rights or claims as or iginal or holder of rights derived 
from rights; CMOs are not rightsholders within the meaning of this Federal Act;  
4. ‘Right of reference ’ means a right holder who has concluded a recognition agreement with a 
collective management organisation;   
5. ‘Member’ means a right holder, an entity representing rightsholders, including other CMOs 
and organisations of rights holders that meet the conditions for membership of the CMO and is 
absorbed by it;  
6. ‘Revenue from rights ’ means the amounts collected by a collec tive management organisation 
for the rightsholders from an exclusive right or a claim for remuneration or participation;  
7. ‘Exercise of rights ’ means the exercise of exclusive rights and of remuneration or equity 
claims, irrespective of the nature of the holding of the CMO with its perception;  
8. ‘Administrative costs ’ means the amount collected, removed or cleared by a collective 
management organisation to cover its costs in the exercise of copyright and related rights from 
the income from the rights or t he proceeds from the investment of those revenue;  
9. ‘Repertoire ’ means all the works or other subject -matter for which a CMO manages rights;  
10. ‘Multi -territory licence ’ means a licence extending to the territory of more than one Member 
State of the Eur opean Union or a contracting party to the European Economic Area;  
11. ‘Online rights in musical works ’ means the rights conferred on the author in a musical work 
or related linguistic work within the meaning of Article  2 and 3 of Directive 2001/29/EC on th e 
harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society, OJ 
L 167, 22.6.2001, p.  10, in the version of the correction OJ L  6, 10.1.2002, p.  71, which is 
necessary for providing an online service;  
12. ‘User’ means any n atural or legal person who carries out acts which require the authorisation 
of a rightsholder or which requires payment of compensation or compensation to a right holder;  
13. ‘User organisation ’, an overall contractual organisation within the meaning of § 48. 
2 Section  
Perception authorisation  
Requirement and conditions for authorisation to perceive the sign  
§ 3. (1) rights under the Copyright Act may only be exercised in the interests of several rights 
holders with the authorisation of the regulatory autho rities in the interest of several rights holders 
(authorisation to perceive).  
(2) The authorisation to perceive the sign may only be granted to a collective management organisation or 
independent collective management organisation with its registered offic e in Austria , which satisfies the 
conditions laid down in Sections 5 and 7 and provides full assurance that it will perform the tasks and 
obligations incumbent upon it under this Federal Act. Furthermore, a collective management organisation 
may be granted  it only if it complies with the conditions set out in § 6. 
(3) Collective management organisations or independent collective management organisations based in 
another Member State of the European Union or a state party to the European Economic Area, which  are 
entitled under the law of their home country to hold collective rights, do not require any authorisation to 
be accepted for the purposes of obtaining licences within the meaning of § 54. 
(4) If rights are exercised without authorisation to perceive ri ghts within the meaning of subsection 1 or 
without authorisation within the meaning of subsection 3, the collective management authority shall, at 
the request of any party or ex officio, order the non -observance of the trade mark.  
(5) If rights are exercised without recognition within the meaning of subsection 1 or without authorisation 
within the meaning of subsection 3, the rights perceived cannot be asserted by the undertaking concerned. 
He is not entitled to take legal action pr ivately. If CMOs exceed their authorisation to perceive, the 
transfer of rights for the purposes of grasped perception is ineffective in this respect.  
Independent CMO  
§ 4. The provisions of this Federal Act governing collective management organisations are  to be 
applied to independent collective management organisations, with the exception of Sections 6, 12 to 22, 
76 and 92 (2).  
Home professional business management  
§ 5. A collective management organisation must have a main professional and technically qual ified 
business management; the condition is in any case fulfilled if an employee of the collective management 
organisation entrusted with business management tasks is professionally qualified and is active primarily 
for the CMO.   
Organisation rules  
§ 6. (1) CMOs must ensure, in their organisational regulations (cooperative contracts, articles of 
association, statues, statues), that their relatives are able to participate appropriately in the formation of 
the company ’s will; where there are two or more groups  of reference holders with different interests in a 
CMO, it must also be ensured that their interests are weighed and proportionally taken into account. In 
this respect, it is appropriate to ensure that the business management of the company can effectivel y 
perform its duties and that, at best, the necessary changes to the organisation rules mentioned are not 
unnecessarily difficult.  
(2) In order to properly safeguard the interests of the reference persons who are not included as members 
of the CMO, as memb ers of an entity representing rightsholders who are involved in the formation of the 
CMO’s will or have equivalent rights to a member pursuant to § 17, a joint representation shall be 
formed. The regulations governing use of the CMO must contain provisions  on the choice of 
representation by the reference officer and on the powers of representation. At least the following rights 
must be granted to represent:  
1. the right to request the inclusion of items on the agenda of the main meeting of the Members;  
2. the right to comment on the subject matter of the agenda of the main meeting of the Members,  
3. the right to require the management of information on matters of the collective management 
organisation;  
4. the right to be involved in all matters relating to t he conditions of the perception contract 
(Section 14 (2) (1)) and the administration of revenue from rights (Section 14 (2) (3) to (7)); this 
right of participation is intended to take into account the economic significance of the rights 
which the collecti ve management organisation perceives for these rightsholders.  
(3) Furthermore, the organisation rules must contain the conditions and criteria for membership ( § 12). 
Monopoly principle  
§ 7. (1) only one collective management organisation may be granted per mission to perceive a 
particular right . 
(2) If two or more applicants apply for the same authorisation, they must be granted the person who is 
expected to perform these tasks and obligations best; in the event of doubt, it must be assumed that 
existing CMO s perform these better than those that have not yet been granted permission to perceive. If 
the decision cannot be made in accordance with this criterion, the authorisation to perceive must be 
granted to the applicant, who is expected to attach greater eco nomic importance to the rights to whose 
perception it has been entrusted; even though the economic significance is the same, this is the case.  
(3) Moreover, in terms of tunality, more CMOs should no longer be granted a recognition permit than is 
necessary for an appropriate and economical perception of the rights based on the interests of rights 
holders and users. Where a new collective management organisation promotes the granting of an 
authorisation to perceive, the supervision must also invite the existi ng CMOs that meet the conditions for 
obtaining the authorisation in question to apply for the granting of the authorisation.  
Procedure  
§ 8. Before obtaining an authorisation to perceive the sign, the following should be heard:  
1. the total contractual enti ties, in so far as they are eligible for registration as a single contractual 
partner in accordance with the field of activity of the CMO; and  
2. the other Austrian CMOs.  
Duration and publication of authorisation for perception  
§ 9. (1) the authorisation f or perception is to be granted without a temporal restriction. It shall be 
terminated by the surrender or revocation by the supervision authority.  
(2) A surrender of the authorisation will take effect if the regulatory authority has made a disclaimer on 
its website.  
(3) The granting, content and expiry of a authorisation for perception must be published by the regulatory 
authority on its website.  
Delimitation of perception authorisations  
§ 10. Where the scope of an authorisation for perception is unclear or  disputed, the regulatory 
authority must decide on its delimitation at the request of a party or ex officio, and publish that decision 
on its website.   
Transfer of perception and association of collective management organisations  
§ 11. (1) a collective management organisation may also make use of a authorisation to perceive the 
mark granted to it by transferring the perception of the right in its entirety or in part to another collective 
management organisation.  
(2) Such a transfer shal l be notified to the supervision authority. The display must state that the 
requirements under subsection 3 are met. The supervision may prohibit the transfer within four weeks 
from the date of receipt of the display or the remedy of a deficiency in the di splay. It must indicate the 
transfer and the content thereof on its website; the transfer takes effect with this notice.  
(3) The transfer shown may be prohibited if the transferring collective management organisation does not 
provide full assurance that it  will perform the tasks and obligations of the acquiring company under this 
Federal Act for the exercise of the right conferred on it.  
(4) By transferring an authorisation to perceive the mark, the overall contracts, the contracts of perception 
and the con tracts for the granting of use authorisations from the transferring collective management 
organisation for the rights entrusted to the CMO to be exercised are transferred to the acquiring CMO; the 
effects of the regulations governing the transfer of rights  also apply to the acquiring collective 
management organisation.  
(5) Associations of collective management organisations are not subject to collective control by the court.  
(6) The monitoring authority may invite two or more CMOs to examine the possibility  of an association if 
it is expected that such an association will enable more efficient and efficient management of rights.  
3 Section  
Membership and corporate record  
Membership  
§ 12. (1) CMOs must include rightsholders and organisations representing right sholders as members, 
including CMOs and organisations of rights holders, if they meet the conditions for membership. These 
conditions must be based on objective, transparent and non -discriminatory criteria.  
(2) If a collective management organisation refus es a request for membership, the reasons for this 
decision must be understood by the party concerned.  
(3) CMOs have allowed their members and reference holders to communicate with them using electronic 
means of communication.  
(4) CMOs must keep lists of me mbers and update them on a regular basis.  
CMO bodies  
§ 13. (1) in so far as the corporate law governing the collective management organisation does not 
provide for such bodies, the organisational regulations of a collective management organisation have to 
provide for the organisation of a collective agreement between members, the management of the business 
of the CMO and the supervision of the management of the business.  
(2) If a collective management organisation cannot, in accordance with the corporate la w governing that 
organisation, be set up in order to form a joint arbitrary body of members, its organisation rules are to 
grant the powers of the main meeting of members to the body which is responsible for the supervision 
function. The provisions concern ing the main meeting of members shall apply by analogy to the 
governing body of such a collective management organisation.  
Meeting of Members  
§ 14. (1) the collective management organisation in which members participate and exercise their 
vote (main meetin g of Members) shall be appointed at least once a year.  
(2) The composition of the Members shall decide on:  
1. Amendments to organisational rules and conditions of perception contracts;  
2. the appointment, dismissal and supervision of the members of the Man agement and 
Management Boards, the authorisation of their remuneration and other services, including 
monetary and monetary services, pension rights, claims for other allowances and collections to 
them; the appointment or dismissal of members of the governi ng body, or the approval of their 
remuneration and other benefits, shall not be decided by the Grand Board if the competence to 
decide on it has been delegated to the Board of Governors;   
3. the general principles for the distribution of amounts received by  rightsholders, the use of the 
non-divisible amounts and the withdrawals from the revenue from the rights and the income from 
the investment of revenue from rights;  
4. the general investment policy regarding the income from the rights and any income arisin g 
from the investment of revenue from rights;  
5. risk management principles;  
6. authorisation for the purchase, sale or lending of real estate;  
7. authorise associations and alliance, set up subsidiaries and other organisations and acquire 
shares or rights  to other organisations;  
8. authorise the purchase and issuing of loans and the establishment of loan agreements or 
guarantees;  
9. the appointment and dismissal of the final examiner and the approval of the transparency 
report; for collective management organisations in the legal form of a cooperative, the 
prerequisites under § 22 (6) Genossenschaft are not affected.  
(3) The main meeting of members may delegate the powers under subsection 2 points 5 to 8 to the Board 
of Appeal.  
Participation and vote  
§ 15. (1) all members of a CMO shall be entitled to participate in the meeting of members and shall 
be entitled to vote.  
(2) The organisation  rules of a collective management organisation may allow restrictions on the right of 
members to attend the meeting of members and to exercise their vote there on the basis of one of the 
following criteria:  
1. Duration of membership,  
2. Amounts received by  a Member or due to him/her,  
provided that such criteria are determined and applied in a manner that is fair and proportionate.  
(3) Each member of a collective management organisation has the right to appoint another natural or legal 
person who attend the meeting of the Members in his name and shall vote unless representation leads to a 
conflict of interests. The organisation rules of a collective management organisation may limit the 
appointment of representatives to represent by other members or by the ma ximum number of 
representatives, provided that this does not adversely affect the appropriate and effective participation of 
the members in the CMO ’s decision -making process.  
(4) A representative will be appointed for only one meeting of the Members. In th e main meeting of the 
Members, the representative shall enjoy the same rights as the Member who appointed him. The 
representative shall be obliged to vote in accordance with the instructions of the Member who appointed 
him/her.  
(5) The organisation rules o f a collective management organisation shall lay down the conditions under 
which members may attend the main meeting of members, even without a presence on site and without a 
representative, and be able to exercise their right to vote by means of electroni c communications. You can 
authorise the exercise of other membership rights electronically.  
Delegation meeting  
§ 16. (1) the organisation rules of a collective management organisation may provide that the powers 
of the main meeting of members shall be exer cised by a meeting of delegates elected by the members of 
the collective management organisation at least every four years.  
(2) Where members ’ powers are delegated to a delegation meeting, the appropriate and effective 
participation of members in the decis ion-making process of the CMO, as well as a fair and balanced 
representation of different categories of members in the delegation meeting, must be ensured.  
(3) The provisions concerning the main meeting of Members shall apply mutatis mutandis to the 
delega tion meeting.  
Reference payroll  
§ 17. (1) the organisational regulations of a collective management organisation, which include 
institutions representing the reference holder of the collective management organisation, may provide that 
all or individual pow ers of the main meeting of members are to be exercised by a board of pupils.  
(2) The provisions concerning the main meeting of Members shall apply by analogy to the reference leave 
meeting.   
Collections (Cabinet -) 
§ 18. For CMOs in the legal form of the Ge nossenschaft, the cooperative contract may specify that 
all or some of the functions of the General Council (Chief Plenary) are carried out in meetings of the 
courses. In the case of the courier meetings, the provisions relating to the General Court (Chief  Plenary) 
shall apply by analogy.  
Supervision Board  
§ 19. (1) CMOs have to appoint a board. The organisation rules of a collective management 
organisation shall ensure a fair and balanced representation of different categories of reference holders in 
the supervision board.  
(2) The Management Board is required to monitor business management and, in particular, to ensure that 
the decisions of the main meeting of members on the general principles pursuant to § 14 (2) (3) and (4) 
are implemented.  
(3) The Manage ment Board must hold a meeting at least four times in the financial year. The meetings 
will be held on a quarterly basis.  
(4) The Liaison Board shall report to the Grand Board at least once a year on the exercise of its powers.  
Business management  
§ 20. (1) CMOs shall make all necessary arrangements to ensure that the persons carrying out the 
business are performing their task in a solid, prudent and appropriate manner using sound administrative 
and accounting procedures and internal control mechanisms.  
(2) The members of the management body are obliged in respect of the collective management 
organisation to exercise the care of an ordinary trader in its management.  
(3) The members of the governing body must report to the governing board at least once a y ear on 
fundamental issues of the collective management organisation ’s future business policy and present the 
future evolution of the asset, financial and income position by means of a preliminary account (annual 
report). They also have to report to the Man agement Board on a regular basis, at least on a quarterly basis, 
about the progress of the transactions and the situation of the CMO in comparison with pre -clearance, 
taking into account future developments (Quarte Report). If there is any valid reason, th e Chairperson of 
the Management Board shall be informed immediately; furthermore, circumstances that are of 
considerable importance to the genuineness or ners of the collective management organisation must be 
reported to the Management Board without delay (special report).  
Billing  
§ 21. (1) the members of the governing body must ensure that an accounting system and an internal 
control system are managed which meet the requirements of the collective management organisation. 
They also have to prepare annual a ccounts for the preceding financial year, irrespective of the size and 
legal form of the CMO in the first five months of the annual year. Sections 189a to 216, Section 222 (2) 
and (3) and Sections 223 to 234 UGB are to be applied accordingly. Further legal  provisions on 
accounting remain unaffected.  
(2) The members of the governing body shall separate the revenue from the rights and the proceeds from 
the investment of that revenue, as well as the CMO ’s own assets, the proceeds of that assets, revenue to 
cover administrative costs and other activity, separately from the accounting.  
Prevention and disclosure of conflicts of interests  
§ 22. (1) CMOs shall make all necessary arrangements to avoid any conflict of interests between the 
members of their institution s and their employees entrusted with management tasks, as well as for any 
conflict of interests that may have a negative effect on the interests of their advisers. In cases where 
conflicts of interests cannot be avoided, they must take the necessary measur es to identify, remedy, 
monitor and disclose such conflicts of interests.  
(2) The members of the governing body and the supervision board and the employees of the CMOs 
entrusted with business management shall make a statement to the main meeting of members  on an 
annual basis, in which they disclose the following facts:  
1. its participation in the CMO,  
2. the allowances (including pension payments, contributions in kind and other services) which 
they received from the CMO in the course of the financial year;  
3. the amounts received in the capacity as the reference person in the expired financial year, and   
4. Details of actual or possible conflicts between its personal interests and the interests of the 
collective management organisation, or between its obliga tions towards another person and its 
obligations towards the CMO.  
(3) The declarations referred to in subsection 2 shall also be submitted to the private meeting of members 
at the latest when they are issued and shall be explained at the request of the Boa rd. 
4 Section  
Rights and obligations to rightsholders and rightsholders  
Obligation to perceive  
§ 23. (1) CMOs must conclude contracts with rights holders, upon request, on reasonable and 
uniform terms, for the exercise of the rights belonging to their area  of activity (viewing contracts).  
(2) CMOs have to establish rights or categories of rights, in their terms and conditions, for certain types 
of use, rights to certain types of works and other subject matter, and rights for territories that a right 
holder may grant after its choice by the CMO. When determining those rights or categories of rights, the 
balance must be maintained between the freedom of the rightsholders to have their works or other subject 
matter and the ability of the CMO to effectively exer cise the rights.  
Perception contract  
§ 24. (1) the rights or categories of rights granted to a CMO by a reference person and the nature of 
the works or subject -matter for which it grants rights shall be expressly specified in the perception 
agreement. The  assignment of the rectangle must be documented.  
(2) Amendments to the terms and conditions of contracts of perception shall also take effect for guardians 
who have already concluded a perception agreement, unless they terminate the perception agreement 
within four weeks after the amendment has been notified to them in writing. Extensions of the scope of 
the rights and claims held by the collective management organisation shall take effect if, within the same 
time limit, a beneficiary does not oppose them i n the form provided for zes; Restrictions will in any case 
take effect.  
Perception Picture  
§ 25. At the request of a collective management organisation, an overall contractual entity or user, 
the monitoring authority must establish, by means of a communica tion, that a collective management 
organisation which has granted authorisation to perceive the supervision holds the rights to the virtually 
entire range of works or other subject -matter for its entire area of activity or some of them. This decision 
shall give grounds for the presumption that the collecting society manages the rights for the entire 
collection of works or other protectable matter within the area laid down by the decision unless there is 
proof to the contrary. In so far as the conditions fo r the finding ultimately no longer apply, the regulatory 
authority shall annul the decision of its own motion or at the request of the Office; the aforementioned 
persons are entitled to make the application.  
Exercise of rights in unavailable works  
§ 25a. (1) if a collective management association perceives the rights of reproduction, distribution, 
broadcast, public reproduction pursuant to Section 18 (3) of the Copyright Act or made available to the 
public pursuant to § 18a of the Copyright Act to a signi ficant proportion of the stock of works used in 
Austria  or other subject -matter protected by its area of activity, it may grant to a cultural heritage 
institution (Section 42 (7) of the Copyright Act) an authorisation for non -commercial use, including for  
the rights of rights holders that it has not granted by way of a perception agreement or a contract with 
another collective management organisation,  
1. the works or subject -matter concerned are permanently in the collection of the facilities,  
2. Information on the purpose of identifying the works or subject -matter concerned and an 
indication of the right holder ’s right to oppose through the non -available portal established by the 
European Union Intellectual Property Office for 6 months; and  
3. the proprietors of the rights to the works or subject -matter offered for use as unavailable do not 
oppose the exercise of their rights by the CMO.  
(2) The use authorisation pursuant to paragraph 1 may be granted for Austria, for any other Member State 
of the European Union or for any other party to the Agreement relating to the European Economic Area. 
In relation to this authorisation, the rights holders who have not concluded a licence agreement with the 
collective management organisation and whose rights  are not exercised on the basis of a contract with  
another collective management organisation also have the same rights and obligations as the CMOs ’ 
reference holders.  
(3) Section 56f (3) to (7) and, insofar as they refer to this provision, Section 71 (6),  Section 74 (7), 
Section 76 (6), Section 76a (5), Section 76d (5) and Section 76f (5) of the Copyright Act are to be applied 
with the proviso that  
1. the opposition can also be declared to CMOs that they have to inform the cultural heritage 
institutions an d the CMO without delay of receipt of the opposition, to revoke the exploitation 
licences granted to the CMO without delay and to set a reasonable time limit for the termination 
of use, and the right of the rightsholder to dispel the revenue collected for the exploitation of its 
works or property remains unaffected;  
2. a number of works or other subject -matter may be used in the cases referred to in Section 56f 
(6) of the Copyright Act, if the CMO granting the authorisation of use also perceives the rights  of 
reproduction, distribution, communication to the public or making available to the public a 
significant proportion of the stock of works or other subject -matter of protection of their scope 
of activity, including for the rightsholders of the third cou ntry; and  
3. a cultural heritage institution that intends to use a work as unavailable also contains 
information about the parties to the use authorisation, the areas and uses covered, to the European 
Union Intellectual Property Office for the purpose of i ncorporation into the Office ’s online 
portal.  
(4) CMOs that issue user licences for unavailable works or property rights have to publish this on their 
website and give rightsholders an easy way to oppose permission to use. The exercise of rights in 
unavail able works or subject -matter shall be shown separately in the accounts to the rightsholders and in 
the transparency report as a separate category.  
(5) The supervision promotes dialogue between user and rights holders ’ representatives, including CMOs 
and o ther stakeholders, in order to promote the granting of usage licences for unavailable works while 
respecting the rights and interests of rightsholders.  
Extended collective rights perception  
§ 25 (b).  (1) a collective management organisation may issue user licences for rightsholders that 
have not granted it these rights through a contract of perception or a contract with another collective 
management organisation even where and to the extent that:  
1. the use authorisations fall within a specific area for whi ch the regulatory authority has 
authorised it to exercise the rights of external pages;  
2. three months after the publication of the information referred to in paragraph 4 on the CMO ’s 
website, and  
3. the proprietors of the rights to the works or subject -matter concerned do not oppose the 
exercise of their rights by the CMO.  
(2) The supervision authority must grant authorisation pursuant to subsection 1 point 1, provided that:  
1. the use authorisations should be applied to precisely certain areas of use in  which the obtaining 
of the rightsholders ’ authorisation is normally adversely affected in each individual case and is 
unrealistic to such an extent that the required granting of the authorisation is unlikely due to the 
nature of the use or type of works o r other subject matter in question; and  
2. the collective management organisation perceives the rights concerned for the relevant area in 
a significant proportion of the portfolio of works or other subject -matter used domestically.  
The authorisation shall  be revoked if the conditions are removed or the CMO surrendered its 
authorisation.  
(3) The monitoring authority must publish the authorisation and its revocation on its website and inform 
the European Commission about the approved area of use, the purpose  and types of usage authorisations 
covered by the authorisation, and how the CMO complies with its obligation to publish.  
(4) The collective management organisation shall publish the authorisation of the regulatory authority 
with an indication on its websi te that it intends to grant usage licences for outdoor slogans if and as long 
as it does not oppose the granting of such user licences. In doing so, it has regard to the possibility of 
opposition and its consequences, the other rights and obligations of th e external parties (paragraph 6), the 
conditions for perception agreements ( § 44 (3)), the overall agreements (section 44 point 4) and 
regulations of use ( § 44 point 5), the conditions for contracts of use (standard licence agreements); 
Section 44 point 6)  and the rates under which they are calculated charges and statutory allowances  
(Section 44 point 7), insofar as these rates are relevant to the uses covered by the authorisation of the 
regulatory authority.  
(5) A right holder may oppose the extended colle ctive rights perception or the granting of individual user 
licences in general or in certain cases even after the granting of a licence of use or after commencement of 
use of his or her works or other subject -matter. The opposition may be declared to the CMOs granting 
the authorisation or to the user; the user and the CMO must inform each other without delay of receipt of 
the opposition. The collective management organisation must revoke without delay any use authorisation 
and set a reasonable time limit f or the termination of use. This is without prejudice to the right holder ’s 
claim to divulgation of the revenue collected for the use of its works or subject -matter.  
(6) In relation to the usage licences granted on the basis of this provision, the rights ho lders who have not 
concluded a licence agreement with the collective management organisation and whose rights are not 
exercised on the basis of a contract with another collective management organisation also have the same 
rights and obligations as the lice nsees of the CMO.  
(7) Use certificates pursuant to subsection 1 may only be granted for use domestically.  
Licences for non -commercial use  
§ 26. (1) even after granting exclusive rights to the CMO, the rightsholder remains entitled, subject 
to the condition s laid down for that purpose by the collective management organisation, to allow others to 
use their works or subject -matter in a non -commercial manner.  
(2) The main composition of a collective management organisation shall lay down the conditions for 
exercising this right. They must be included in the conditions of perception contracts.  
Termination of the perception contract  
§ 27. (1) rightsholders may terminate the viewing contract in whole or in part, within a reasonable 
period of not more than six months. It may be provided in the conditions of perception contracts that such 
an end of the perception contract can only be pronounc ed at the end of the financial year. Furthermore, 
this right cannot be made dependent on further conditions, such as the granting of rights to another CMO.  
(2) CMOs may provide, in their terms and conditions for perception contracts, that the termination o f the 
perception agreement is without prejudice to the granting of use granted before the termination of the 
perception contract.  
(3) Assignee who terminated the perceiving agreement in whole or in part shall retain their rights under 
this Federal Act in r elation to revenue lost from use prior to the termination of the perception agreement 
or prior use authorisations issued therefrom.  
Information undertakings before concluding a contracts for perception  
§ 28. (1) CMOs must inform the rightsholders of their rights under Sections 23, 24, 26 and 27 and 
the conditions for the exercise of the right pursuant to Section 26 prior to the conclusion of the licence 
agreement; it is sufficient for this purpose to indicate to the rightsholders the conditions of perceptio n 
contracts.  
(2) They also have to clarify rights holders before concluding the perception agreement regarding 
administrative costs and other withdrawals from the revenue resulting from the rights and the withdrawals 
from the installations of revenue resul ting from rights.  
Perception of rights  
§ 29. (1) CMOs shall protect and operate rights effectively and in their own name, which have been 
granted to them by virtue of a licensing agreement. In so doing, they must proceed as much as possible 
and ensure that  there is a reasonable relationship between the effort to capture the facts on which the 
claim is based, the enforcement of these claims and the highest level of distribution accuracy, on the one 
hand, and the benefits obtained from them, on the other. The y must act in the best interests of their 
relatives and may only impose on them obligations which are objectively necessary for protecting their 
rights and interests or for the effective exercise of those rights.  
(2) CMOs also have to provide for the maint enance and exploitation of the rights referred to in paragraph 
1, including abroad by concluding mutual contracts or otherwise, to the greatest extent possible; here too, 
the principles of effectiveness, economy and comparability of funds set out in paragr aph 1 must be 
observed.   
Considered for the following intended purpose  
with regard to the reference period, see § 90 
Revenue recovery and management  
§ 30. (1) CMOs must exercise due care in relation to the confiscation and management of revenue 
resulting fr om the rights.  
(2) CMOs are required to distribute the revenue from the rights and the proceeds from the investments 
made to the rightsholders or to use them for the purposes decided by the main meeting of members 
(Section 14 (2) (3)).  
(3) If a collective management organisation assigns revenue from the rights or the proceeds from the 
investment of such revenue, this must take place in the best interest of the rightsholders whose rights it 
holds, and in accordance with its general investment policy and risk  management principles. In doing so, 
it 
1. to ensure that the investment is made solely for the benefit of those rights holders;  
2. investment the assets in such a way as to guarantee the security, quality, liquidity and 
efficiency of the portfolio as a wh ole; and  
3. to reasonably diversify the investments in such a way as to avoid excessive dependency on a 
particular asset and risk concentration in the portfolio.  
Considered for the following intended purpose  
with regard to the reference period, see § 90 
Discrimination of reference holders of other CMOs  
§ 31. CMOs may not treat rights holders whose rights are exercised under an agreement with other 
collective management organisations. This applies in particular to the applicable rates, the administrative 
costs and the conditions of recovery and distribution.  
Considered for the following intended purpose  
with regard to the reference period, see § 90 
Deductions  
§ 32. (1) payments must be reasonable in relation to the services provided to rightsholders by the 
collective management organisation and determined on the basis of objective criteria.  
(2) Administrative costs shall not exceed the amount of objectively justified and substantiated costs 
incurred by the CMO in the exercise of the rights.  
(3) Only administrative costs and other amounts for which the CMO has expressly consented to the 
reduction may only be deducted from revenue received by CMOs from the management of rights for 
other CMOs.  
Social and cultural institutions  
§ 33. (1) CMOs may set up social and cultural institutions for their reference holders and their 
members.  
(2) CMOs claiming claims for storage media remuneration are required to create social and cultural 
institutions, which will contribute 50  % of the total revenue from thi s allowance minus the related 
administrative costs. However, the obligation to create social institutions does not apply to CMOs, the 
reference persons of which are exclusively broadcasting companies.  
(3) CMOs which claim claims under Section 76 (8) of the  Copyright Act are required to create social and 
cultural institutions and assign to them that part of the revenue which cannot be assigned individually to 
any performer.  
(4) CMOs have to lay down established rules for benefits from their social and cultur al institutions on the 
basis of fair criteria, in particular with regard to access to such services and the scale thereof.  
(5) As regards the means to be paid to the social and cultural institutions arising from the memory media 
remuneration, the Federal M inister for Justice may determine by means of regulations which 
circumstances the rules to be laid down in paragraph 4 must take into account. That regulation must 
ensure, inter alia, that:   
1. there is a balance between contributions to social institutions , on the one hand, and to cultural 
institutions, on the other;  
2. in the area of social institutions, it is primarily possible to provide support to individual 
reference holders and their members in emergency positions;  
3. the funding in the field of cultu ral institutions will promote the interests of reference holders.  
(6) The supervision publishes every year on its website a report on the extent and use of the income 
received from social and cultural institutions in accordance with section 2 of the previo us year.  
Considered for the following intended purpose  
with regard to the reference period, see § 90 
Distribution  
§ 34. (1) CMOs must establish established rules for distribution on the basis of the general principles 
adopted by their home meetings, which excludes arbitrary action (rules of distribution). The rules on 
distribution can assess cultural high -quality works or property rights higher than other and original works 
than editing. CMOs to which authors and proprietors of assigned rights belong may be  taken into account 
in the distribution of members of both groups, irrespective of who has brought the rights into the CMO.  
(2) The distribution and distribution to rightsholders and other CMOs must be carried out regularly, 
carefully, correctly and as soo n as possible. Insofar as possible without unreasonable expense, this is to be 
carried out as accurately and traceably as possible.  
(3) The distribution and disbursement must take place no later than nine months after the end of the 
financial year during w hich the income from rights and entitlements was collected. In the case of amounts 
received from other collecting societies, this must take place no later than six months following receipt.  
(4) The time limits under subsection 3 extend by the time required  to overcome any obstacle to 
distribution and distribution, such as a lack of user reports or lack of information on works and 
rightsholders.  
(5) If the amount of the amounts to be distributed in detail does not justify the expense associated with the 
distribution, then the release can be maintained until the amounts to be paid have reached a reasonable 
amount. These amounts must be shown separately in the CMO ’s book -keeping.  
Considered for the following intended purpose  
with regard to the reference period,  see § 90 
Ironable amounts  
§ 35. (1) if rights holders cannot be identified or located within the time limits laid down in Section 
34 (3) and (4), the amounts to which they are entitled must be shown separately in the CMO ’s 
bookkeeping.  
(2) CMOs have to ch eck their lists of members and other easily available records and take all other 
necessary steps to identify and locate those rights holders. To that end, they must provide details of works 
and other subject -matter to the following persons and bodies no l ater than three months after expiry of 
the time limits referred to in Section 34 (3) and (4):  
1. their reference holder and their members, represented by the Facilitator, and  
2. any collective management organisation with which they have concluded agreements on 
granting collective rights.  
(3) The information referred to in paragraph 2 shall include, where available, the following:  
 1. the title of the work or other subject -matter, 
2. the name of the rightsholder,  
3. the name of the publisher or producer concerned; and  
4. any other relevant information that could be useful for identifying the rightsholder.  
(4) If these steps are unsuccessful, CMOs shall be required to publish the  information under subsection 3 
on their website no later than one year after expiry of the period referred to in subsection 2.  
(5) If the amounts received by the rightsholders cannot be distributed after three years following the end 
of the financial year  in which the revenue from the rights was collected, even though all the necessary  
measures have been taken to identify and locate the rightsholders, these amounts are considered not to be 
distributed.  
5 Section  
Rights and obligations towards users  
Grantin g of user licences  
§ 36. (1) CMOs must make it easier for users of their works and services to obtain the necessary 
exploitation authorisations under reasonable conditions, in particular for reasonable remuneration.  
(2) CMOs and users must act in good fait h to grant use licences and provide each other with all the 
necessary information. Where a contract for the granting of an authorisation to use is not concluded 
merely because the CMO did not enter into negotiations in good faith or refused a contract with out due 
cause, the user has a right to grant the authorisation under reasonable conditions.  
(3) Where the collective management organisation refuses the use authorisation merely because no 
agreement can be reached on the calculation of the fee, the consent  shall be deemed to have been granted 
if the user has paid the undisputed part of the fee to the CMO and has provided security in the amount of 
the disputed part of the fee by means of a judicial deposit or the payment of a bank guarantee.  
(4) The copyrigh t ssenat may reasonably reduce the amount of the security at the request of the user. A 
decision on such a request must be made as quickly as possible without any formal evidence proceedings, 
applying by analogy Section 273 of the Austrian Code of Civil Pr ocedure.  
Conditions and rates of use and remuneration  
§ 37. (1) terms and rates of use and remuneration must be based on objective and discriminatory 
criteria. However, CMOs are not obliged to take advantage of usage licences as a precedent that they have 
awarded online services offered to the public for less than three years.  
(2) Without prejudice to Section 50 (4), it must be suggested in the licence agreements that CMOs are 
regularly provided by the users within the framework of the reasonable amount of information necessary 
for calculating and distributing the charges.  
(3) CMOs have to ensure that the rightsholders they care receive reasonable remuneration for the use of 
their rights and claims. Rates of exclusive rights and compensation claims must be d uly reconciled with, 
inter alia, the economic value of the exploitation of the rights, taking into account the nature and extent of 
the use of the work and other subject matter, as well as the economic value of the services provided by the 
CMO. Furthermore , the statutory tariff criteria must also be taken into account.  
(4) CMOs must inform the relevant users without delay of the criteria forming the basis of the tariff list.  
Rates for equipment and storage media  
§ 38. (1) before claiming new remuneration fo r devices or storage media, the CMO must determine 
the actual use of the devices or storage media by means of empirical investigations and, on the basis of 
which, communicate with the user organisation about the appropriate level of remuneration and the 
conclusion of a general contract. Before a tariff is set up, the Federal Chamber of Employment must also 
be given the opportunity to submit observations.  
(2) Orders and results of empirical investigations must be published.  
Advisory gears for equipment and s torage media payment  
§ 39. (1) an advisory board is established for consultancy with regard to the equipment and storage 
media remuneration pursuant to § 42b UrhG.  
(2) The task of the Advisory Board is to monitor and assess the market for duplicators and s torage media 
in order to capture new devices and storage media, or to change use, and to facilitate the conclusion or 
renegotiation of overall contracts.  
(3) The Board shall be composed of representatives of the CMOs requesting the allowances and user 
organisations.  
(4) The collective management authority, as Registry, assists the advisory board in the performance of its 
duties. It publishes an annual report on the activities of the Advisory Committee on its website.  
(5) The Federal Ministry of Justice can lay down more detailed provisions by means of regulations.   
Response to queries, electronic communications  
§ 40. (1) CMOs must reply user requests without delay and inform users of the information they 
need for a perm it to use. Once all the necessary information has been received, they must either submit to 
users without delay offers for use or to give a reasoned explanation as to why they refuse the 
authorisation for a specific use.  
(2) CMOs have the option of communi cating with them by using electronic means of communication.  
Considered for the following intended purpose  
with regard to the reference period, see § 90 
6 Section  
Transparency and reporting obligations  
Billing against rights holders  
§ 41. (1) CMOs shall in voice rightsholders to which they assigned or distributed revenue from the 
rights in the reporting period at least once a year. The accounting should give right holders sufficient 
grounds for checking the correct allocation and payment of amounts to them.  
(2) The annual accounts must at least contain:  
1. the contact details of the right holder,  
2. the revenue assigned to the rightsholder and the amounts distributed to him/her broken down 
by categories of rights and types of use;  
3. the period of account use s, unless the CMO does not have the data required for objective 
reasons such as the absence of use reports,  
4. the discounts related to revenue broken down into administrative costs, withdrawals for the 
provision of social, cultural or educational services  and withdrawals for other purposes; and  
5. revenue assigned to the rightsholder but not yet distributed.  
(3) CMOs whose members represent rights holders may fulfil their obligations under subsection (1) 
through those members.  
Considered for the following intended purpose  
with regard to the reference period, see § 90 
Accounting against other CMOs  
§ 42. (1) CMOs must invoice other CMOs, at least once a year, in electronic form at least once a 
year.  
(2) The annual accounts must at least contain:  
1. the revenu e assigned to the other CMO and the amounts distributed to it, broken down by 
categories of rights and types of use;  
2. the revenue assigned to the other CMO but not yet distributed,  
3. the discounts related to revenue broken down into administrative costs , withdrawals for the 
provision of social, cultural or educational services and withdrawals for other purposes;  
4. Information on user licences granted or refused for works and other subject matter from the 
Repertoire of the other CMO;  
5. Information on de cisions of the main meeting of members, insofar as they are decisive for the 
exercise of the rights covered by the agreement with the other CMO.  
Repertoire information  
§ 43. (1) CMOs are obliged to provide free of charge information as to whether they clai m the right 
in Austria  to use a work or other subject -matter of protection in the manner intended by the applicant. 
However, CMOs may require a charge set by CMOs to answer them with the authorisation of the 
regulatory authority and make the provision of information dependent on the payment thereof in advance, 
if the response to the request requires a particular effort.   
(2) CMOs are also obliged to provide, without delay, information about their Repertoire to other CMOs 
for which they perceive rights or ch arge them with the management of rights, upon a sufficiently reasoned 
request.  
(3) The information referred to in paragraph 2 includes  
1. the existence of works and other subject -matter falling within their Repertoire or, if this can 
not be determined, th e types of works or other subject -matter of protection,  
2. the rights they perceive for their rightsholders or other CMOs; and  
3. the territories for which they are entitled.  
(4) When providing information, CMOs may take reasonable measures, where necessa ry, to protect the 
integrity of the data, to monitor their use and to protect commercially sensitive information.  
Publication obligations  
§ 44. CMOs must make the following documents, as currently valid, available on their website:  
 1. the perspectives of perception,  
2. the organisation rules, including membership conditions;  
3. the conditions of perception contracts,  
4. the general contracts applicable to them;  
5. the regulations governing their use,  
6. the terms and conditions for cont racts of use (standard licensing agreements)  
7. the rates according to which they charge charges and legal remuneration;  
8. a list of persons carrying out the business of the CMO;  
9. the general principles for the distribution of amounts received by rights  holders, the 
distribution rules and the rules on benefits from social and cultural institutions;  
10. the general principles governing the use of the non -divisible amounts;  
11. the general principles for administrative management;  
12. the general principle s for other vent, including the withdrawals for social and cultural 
institutions;  
13. a list of contracts with foreign collective management organisations with the names of those 
collective management organisations,  
14. Lists of the names (top names) of th eir relatives and their members, indicating any 
substantive or territorial restrictions on the perception of rights; and  
15. the means for complaints and alternative dispute resolution.  
Considered for the following intended purpose  
with regard to the refer ence period, see § 90 
Transparency Report  
§ 45. (1) CMOs must draw up annual transparency reports which contain the annual accounts (in any 
case consisting of balance sheets, profit and loss accounts and cash flow accounts), reports on activities in 
the ex pired financial year, reports on the withdrawals for social and cultural institutions and details of the 
following items:  
1. the refusal of use authorisations in the previous financial year,  
2. a description of the CMO ’s legal form and organisational struc ture; 
 3. the entities directly or indirectly, wholly or partially owned by the collective management 
organisation, whether directly or indirectly, in whole or in part;  
4. the total amount of allowances and other benefits paid to members of the Management Board, 
the governing body and the staff entrusted with business management tasks in the previous 
financial year.  
(2) The transparency report shall contain the following information on revenue and proceeds:  
1. revenue from rights broken down by category of rights and method of use;  
2. the revenue resulting from the investment of revenue,  
3. the use of these proceeds broken down by distribution to rightsholders, distribution to other 
CMOs or any other use.   
(3) The transparency report shall contain the followi ng information on the costs of the perception of rights 
and other services:  
1. Operating costs and financial expenditure broken down by category of rights held and, if the 
costs cannot be allocated directly to one or more categories of rights, an explanati on of the 
method for calculating those indirect costs;  
2. Operating costs and financial expenses broken down by category of rights held and, if the costs 
cannot be directly assigned to one or more categories of rights, an explanation of the method for 
calculating those indirect costs, only for the perception of rights, including the costs for the 
amounts deducted or cleared from the revenue from rights as administrative costs;  
3. Operating costs and financial expenditure for services other than the exercise  of rights, 
including social and cultural institutions;  
4. Funds to cover costs;  
5. Withdrawals of revenue from rights broken down by category of rights held and method of 
use, as well as the purpose of the reduction, such as expenditure on the perception of rights or for 
social and cultural institutions;  
6. the percentage of expenditure on rights management and other services provided by the CMO 
to its rightsholders in terms of revenue from rights in the relevant financial year broken down by 
category of r ights held and, if the costs cannot be allocated directly to one or more categories of 
rights, an explanation of the method for calculating those indirect costs.  
(4) The transparency report shall contain the following information on distribution:  
1. the to tal amount and the media of the amounts allocated to rightsholders, broken down by 
category of rights and method of use;  
2. the total amount and media values of the amounts distributed to the rightsholders, broken 
down by category of rights and method of u se; 
3. the dates and number of payments broken down by category of rights and method of use;  
4. the total amount of amounts collected but not yet assigned to rightsholders, broken down by 
category of rights and method of use, indicating the financial year in which the amounts were 
recovered;  
5. the total amount of the amounts assigned to the rightsholders but not yet distributed to them, 
broken down by category of rights and method of use, indicating the financial year in which the 
amounts were collected;  
6. the barriers which have led to an extension of the period for distribution and release (Section 
34 (4));  
7. the total sum of all non -divisible amounts, with explanations of their use.  
(5) The transparency report shall contain the following information on payments from and to other 
CMOs:  
1. amounts paid by or to other CMOs, broken down by category of rights, method of use and 
CMO;  
2. Administrative costs and other profits deducted from revenue from other CMOs, broken down 
by categor y of rights, types of use and collective management organisations;  
3. Administrative costs and other profits deducted from the amounts paid by other CMOs, broken 
down by category of rights and collective management organisation;  
4. amounts paid directly to  rightsholders from the payments from other CMOs, broken down by 
category of rights collected and collective management organisation.  
(6) The report on withdrawals for social and cultural institutions includes:  
1. the amounts spent in the financial year fo r social and cultural institutions, broken down by 
intended purpose and for each purpose, broken down by category of rights and types of use;  
2. an explanation of the use of these amounts broken down by purpose, including the costs for 
managing the payment s to social and cultural institutions and the separate amounts used for 
social and cultural institutions.  
Considered for the following intended purpose  
with regard to the reference period, see § 90  
Review and disclosure of the transparency report  
§ 46. (1) the annual accounts contained in the transparency report and the information under Section 
45 (2) to (6) are to be examined by an auditor. Without prejudice to Section 22 (6) of the law on 
commercial and economic associations, auditors or auditing compani es, as well as the revisors ordered 
pursuant to Sections 2 and 3 of the GenRevG 1997, may be used as auditors. Section 269 (1), Sections 
270, 271 and § 272 to 276 of the German Civil Code apply mutatis mutandis.  
(2) If, during his review, the auditor estab lishes facts that indicate that the CMO cannot fulfil its 
obligations or which allows it to expect that the CMO will not be able to fulfil its obligations in the 
future, he or she shall inform the regulatory authority accordingly.  
(3) The confirmation repo rt and any objections should be included in the transparency report.  
(4) CMOs must publish their transparency reports on their website no later than eight months after the end 
of each financial year for the preceding financial year and keep them publicly a vailable for at least seven 
years.  
7 Section  
Total contracts  
Total contracts  
§ 47. (1) CMOs to which the supervision has granted a recognition permit and user organisations are 
required to conclude overall contracts on the following circumstances, after tu nality:  
1. as to the content of the contracts with which a CMO grants the necessary authorisation to users 
of works and other subject -matter;  
2. on the refunding of statutory remuneration and participation claims.  
(2) At the request of the user organisati on, a central position must be designated in a single contract. The 
central office shall be responsible for implementing the overall contract and any use contracts covered by 
the overall contract, including billing and collection of compensation. If the me mbers of a user 
organisation require the authorisation of several CMOs for a specific use or establish certain actions by 
members of a user organisation, those CMOs shall, at the request of the user organisations, conclude 
collective agreements jointly, un less a refusal to conclude a joint contract is justified.  
Overall eligibility for contract  
§ 48. (1) overall contracts can only be concluded by CMOs, to whom the supervision has granted 
authorisation to perceive, and to the following global contracting org anisations (user organisations):  
1. according to their professional field of action, the legal professional interest groups employed 
in this regard, whose geographical area of action extends to the entire Federal territory;  
2. if such an association does not exist, free associations of users to which the supervision has 
granted the qualification to conclude general contracts.  
(2) The qualification pursuant to subsection (1) (2) should generally only be granted to an associati on 
whose local area of action covers the entire Federal territory and which is representative of its scope of 
action in relation to its members. Before granting the authorisation, the CMOs concerned must be heard. 
The qualification can be denied by the reg ulatory authorities at any time for an exceptional reason; such a 
ground is, in particular, the case where an association fulfils its obligations under an overall contract or its 
articles of association to a large extent.  
(3) The representative of interest s appointed under subsection 1 (1) may contractually transfer their 
entitlement to conclude general contracts to a free association of users. This transfer requires approval by 
the supervision authority in order for it to be effective. Paragraph 2 applies mutatis mutandis to the 
approval of the assignment; moreover, the approval may only be granted if it has been ensured that the 
members of the free association have been able to participate in an appropriate manner in the 
association ’s decision -making proce sses. 
(4) At the request of the Austrian Union of towns and cities or of the Austrian Union of Cabinet, the 
monitoring authority must also grant the latter the overall contractual capacity within the meaning of 
paragraph 1.  
Normative effect  
§ 49. From the date of entry into force of an overall contract within its scope, the provisions of an 
overall contract are considered to be part of any specific contract concluded by the collective management 
organisation with a member of the user organisation regarding the authorisation of use or the  
reimbursement of the statutory compensation claim. Agreements deviating from the overall contract, 
provided that they do not exclude the overall contract, are only valid if they are cheaper for the user and 
the user organisa tion agrees to this advantage; special agreements may be entered into on objects which 
are not regulated in the overall agreement. Moreover, overall agreements regarding the granting of 
statutory remuneration are binding on the members of the user organisa tion even without concluding a 
specific contract.  
Shape and contents  
§ 50. (1) overall agreements require written form in order to be valid.  
(2) In particular, they must contain provisions on the amount, as well as on the calculation and payment 
of the fee  for the authorisation of use or the statutory remuneration.  
(3) The purpose of the overall contract is to ensure that any disputes between the CMO and the members 
of the user organisation will be settled in an amicable manner. The overall contract may pro vide, in this 
sense, that an amicable settlement of the dispute is to be sought before an action is brought by the user 
organisation through negotiations between the user organisation and the CMO or any other appropriate 
means; this applies in particular t o disputes arising during negotiations relating to the conclusion or 
amendment of individual agreements concerning use authorisations with regard to the calculation of the 
remuneration, in particular with regard to classification in tariff categories.  
(4) At the request of the collective management organisation, the overall contract shall state that the 
members of the user organisation shall regularly provide it with all the information necessary to calculate 
and distribute the remuneration or remuneration within the reasonable period. To the extent that this 
information can reasonably be expected and does not involve the use of radio broadcasts for public 
representation, lists of the works used and other subject matter must also be included. In so far as th e 
particular circumstances in the case of public communication by means of image or sound recording 
carriers require exceptions, this must be taken into account accordingly.  
Publication and entry into force  
§ 51. (1) the conclusion of a general contract mu st be made available to the public by the collective 
management organisation without delay on its website.  
(2) In the absence of any contrary agreements, the provisions of the overall contract governing the 
relationship between the CMO and the members of t he user organisation shall enter into force one week 
after the publication of the overall contract on the CMO ’s website.  
(3) Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis to contracts which amend or cease to enter into a 
single agreement.  
Date of expiry  
§ 52. (1) an overall contract can only be concluded for an indefinite period. Differing agreements are 
not valid.  
(2) At any time, the parties may terminate, amend or replace a new overall contract by agreement. Where 
a party’s request to amend the overall  contract or to replace it with a new overall contract is rejected, it 
may request the creation of regulations governing use. However, such a request is admissible before the 
expiry of two years after the entry into force of the overall contract only with the consent of the 
supervision.  
(3) If the user organisation that has concluded an overall agreement is in existence or is denied the 
capability to conclude general contracts, the overall contract will cease to exist. However, the provisions 
of the overall  contract, which have been transferred to prior contractual contracts pursuant to § 49, remain 
in force as an integral part of these contracts until their termination or modification, if they do not become 
feasible by the expiry of the remaining provisions  of the overall agreement. The collective management 
organisation must continue to apply the terms and conditions agreed in such an overall contract as a tariff 
within the meaning of Section 44 (1) (7).  
Contracts with ORF, the Federal Government and the co untries  
§ 53. (1) Section 50, Section 52 (2) and § 66 shall apply mutatis mutandis to collective management 
contracts.  
1. by means of Austrian radio broadcasting for the granting of authorisation to broadcast works 
or other subject matter by radio and to i nclude, for their own broadcasting purposes, on image or 
sound carriers;  
2. with the Federal Government regarding the granting of use authorisations and the payment of 
statutory remuneration.   
(2) At the request of a country, the monitoring authority must g rant it overall contractual capacity within 
the meaning of subsection 1 point 2.  
8 Section  
Specific rules for collective management organisations that grant multi -territorial licences 
to online musical works  
Requirements for CMOs that issue user licences f or online services in several states  
§ 54. (1) CMOs that make use of the collective rights to music and related language works 
harmonised in Articles 2 and 3 of Directive 2001/29/EC by providing licences for the simultaneous 
provision of onli ne services in several Member States of the European Union or contracting parties to the 
European Economic Area must have complete and correct data about the works they perceive, 
rightsholders and rights, as well as sufficient capacity to process such data  in order to provide efficient 
and transparent usage licences for individual works, rightsholders or individual territories, and to process 
user communications and processed amounts.  
(2) These CMOs must also be able to identify the rights they perceive in any work or part of a work, their 
rightsholders and the territories for which the rights are granted.  
(3) For this purpose, they must use clear identifiers to enable rightsholders and works to determine, to the 
greatest extent possible, voluntary standards  and practices developed at international or Union level.  
(4) They must also be able to identify and remedy errors in the data of other CMOs that issue licences 
within the meaning of paragraph 1 quickly and effectively.  
Referrals to the supervision  
§ 55. (1) if a collective management organisation based in Austria intends to grant licences within 
the meaning of § 54, it must indicate this to the supervision before taking up this activity. The 
advertisement must state that the requirements of § 54 are met.  
(2) The regulatory authority may prohibit the intended commencement of the activity within four weeks 
of the notification or remedying of a deficiency in the notification if, on the basis of the advertisement, it 
is to be expected that the collective manage ment organisation does not fulfil the conditions referred to in 
§ 54 or that the commencement of the activity affects the performance of the functions of the CMO.  
(3) It must prohibit such activity even if it has been initiated without any advertisement or  if it 
subsequently becomes apparent that the collective management organisation does not meet the 
requirements of § 54 or that the commencement of the activity affects the performance of the functions of 
the collective management organisations.  
(4) The mo nitoring authority must make reference to the non -prohibition or subsequent prohibition on its 
website.  
Repertoire information  
§ 56. Section 43 applies to information about the Repertoire, for which authorisation for the 
simultaneous provision of online se rvices in several Member States of the European Union or contracting 
party to the European Economic Area is given, with the proviso that information on the existence of 
works which fall within the CMO ’s Repertoire is not to be given without the restriction  pursuant to 
Section 43 (3) (1).  
Datacollection and preservation  
§ 57. (1) CMOs pursuant to Section 54 (1) shall keep the data on the rights they perceive up to date. 
They have the right holders to enable other CMOs and online service providers to report i ncorrectly 
recording of rights in cases where they have reason to believe that the data used to provide online services 
are incorrect.  
(2) Such CMOs also have to enable their relatives to communicate electronically data about their works, 
their rights and the territories for which they grant the rights. In doing so, CMOs and guardians have to 
take into account as far as possible voluntary industry standards and data exchange practices developed at 
international or EU level.  
Monitoring, registration of use, billing  
§ 58. (1) CMOs pursuant to Section 54 (1) shall monitor the online services in respect of which they 
have granted use of a work.   
(2) They allow providers of online services to report the uses electronically and offer a method based on 
voluntary, in ternational or EU standards or practices for electronic data exchange.  
(3) Online service providers must report the use of the works correctly. CMOs may refuse a report in a 
format selected by a provider if they accept the report in accordance with a stand ard for electronic data 
exchange that is customary in the sector.  
(4) CMOs must immediately ll out the reported uses electronically, unless this is not possible, for reasons 
that are not the responsibility of the online service provider. You have to provid e a format based on 
voluntary, international or EU standards or practices. The invoice must show the rights subject to the 
licence of use and their actual use with reference to the rightsholders and their works, as well as the 
territories for which the use  authorisations were granted. The providers of online services cannot refuse to 
accept an invoice on the basis of their format if a collective management organisation uses a standard 
customary in the sector.  
(5) CMOs pursuant to Section 54 (1) are required  to set up standardised methods of invoices for online 
service providers, in particular in cases where a provider receives invoices from one or more CMOs for 
the same uses of a work.  
Distribution and billing  
§ 59. (1) the income from the certificates of us e for online services shall be paid to the rightsholders 
immediately after the actual use of the work has been reported, but at the latest once a ground for refusal 
to be borne by an online service provider has ceased to exist.  
(2) Every payment must be ma de to the rightsholders, which must contain at least the following 
information:  
1. the period and territories of the use in question,  
2. the amounts collected, debited and paid, broken down by exploitation right to works,  
3. the collected, debited and paid  amounts broken down according to each provider of an online 
service.  
(3) Revenue from the perception of rights for another CMO shall be paid immediately, but at the latest 
after the removal of an obstacle from the other collective management organisation to be borne by an 
online service provider. With the payment, the other CMO shall be sent a billing within the meaning of 
paragraph 2.  
(4) The other collective management organisation must pay the revenue to the rightsholders and forward 
the bills to them , insofar as the collective management organisations concerned have not agreed to the 
payment and billing by the CMO pursuant to Section 54 (1).  
Contracts between CMOs  
§ 60. (1) contracts between collective management organisations with which a collective 
management organisation entrusted another with the granting of use of works for the simultaneous 
provision of online services in several Member States of the European Union or contracting parties to the 
European Economic Area may not prevent CMOs from also  administering the rights which are the subject 
of the agreement themselves or transmitting them to further collective management organisations. The 
collective management organisation entrusted shall carry out the online rights in a fair manner.  
(2) A tran sferring collective management organisation shall inform its rightsholders of the central terms 
of the agreement, including the duration of the agreement and the cost of the services provided by the 
CMO entrusted.  
(3) The collective management organisation  entrusted to the CMO shall provide information on the 
central conditions for granting use of works for the rights entrusted for the exercise of the rights, 
including the nature of the exploitation, all provisions relating to or affecting remuneration, the  duration 
of the permit to use the work, the accounting periods and the areas to which it applies.  
Obligation toperceive  
§ 61. (1) CMOs pursuant to Section 54 (1), which, for the rePertoire of other CMOs, offer or offer 
licences for the simultaneous provis ion of online services in several Member States of the European 
Union or contracting parties to the European Economic Area, must conclude, upon request, a contract for 
the exercise of those rights with other collective management organisations that do not grant or offer such 
licences under the same conditions as for their own Repertoire. They have to include the Repertoire of 
other CMOs in their offers, which they target online services providers.  
(2) A collective management organisation that receives an of fer to conclude an agreement regarding such 
a perception of a different company must reply in writing and without delay.   
(3) The administrative costs charged by the collective management organisation entrusted to the 
commissioning CMO for the services prov ided shall not exceed the costs that it has incurred reasonably.  
(4) The CMOs entrusted to the CMO must provide the relevant collective management organisation with 
the information on its own music shop that is necessary for granting licences for online us es. 
(5) To that end, the collective management organisation entrusted to the broadcasting organisation must 
enable the commissioning collective management organisation to communicate electronically data on the 
works, rights and areas for which it grants th e rights. In doing so, the CMOs concerned must take into 
account as far as possible voluntary industry standards and data exchange practices developed at 
international or EU level.  
(6) Where the information is insufficient or in a format that the collectiv e management organisation to be 
entrusted does not have to accept within the meaning of the preceding paragraph, it shall be entitled to 
reasonably charge for the costs incurred in meeting the requirements or to exclude works for which 
insufficient or usab le information has not been submitted.  
Exception to online rights in musical works for radio and television programmes  
§ 62. This section shall not apply to CMOs insofar as they issue, on the basis of a voluntary bundling 
of the necessary rights, a multite rritorial licence for online rights to musical works which require 
broadcasting organisations to make their radio or television programmes accompanying their first 
broadcast or television programmes and other online content, including guides, produced by o r for the 
broadcasting organisation, in compliance with the rules of Article  101 and 102 TFEU.  
9 Section  
Appeal management, Dispute Resolution and supervision  
1. Subsection  
Appeal Management  
Appeal Management  
§ 63. (1) CMOs shall set up complaints manageme nt for their members, z and CMOs for which they 
own rights. You have the option of filing an appeal in electronic form and informing the entitled parties 
thereof on their website.  
(2) Appeals must be dealt with effectively and quickly and in writing. If an  appeal is dismissed, it must 
state the reasons on which it is based.  
2. Subsection  
Dispute resolution  
Brokerage services provided by the supervision authority  
§ 64. Where disputes arise between collective management organisations, on the one hand, and oth er 
CMOs, user organisations, users, z or rightsholders, on the other, within the scope of application of this 
Federal Act, any party may request mediation from the regulatory authority.  
Dispute resolution by the Conciliation Committee  
§ 65. (1) the Concili ation Committee may be referred to in any dispute between:  
1. a collective management company established in Austria in accordance with Section 54 (1),  
a) undertakings wishing to offer or offer online services via the application of Sections 36, 37 
and 40, § 56 to 58;  
b) with rights holders or other collective management organisations regarding the application 
of Sections 56 to 61; and  
2. a collective management organisation and a user regarding conditions of use ( § 37); 
3. between collective mana gement organisations concerning the distribution of proceeds from a 
joint overall contract and the specific agreements based thereon.  
(2) The Conciliation Committee shall put forward comparative proposals to the parties. Such a settlement 
will be deemed to  have been accepted by the parties if neither of the parties raises an objection within 
three months.   
3. Subsection  
Sentences  
Sentences  
§ 66. (1) if negotiations on an overall contract are unsuccessful, both the CMO and the user 
organisation may request th at the legal conditions which are supposed to form the subject matter of the 
overall contract be regulated by the copyright ssenat by means of a regulations governing use; this 
provision must remain within the limits set by the parties ’ requests. The regul ations governing use have 
the effect of an overall contract pursuant to § 49. 
(2) Sentences can only be issued with effect for an indefinite period. Where a general agreement is 
concluded in respect of an object covered by the regulations governing use, th e regulations governing use 
shall not take effect to that extent. Where a party ’s request for a different overall contract to be concluded 
on the subject matter provided for by regulations of use is rejected, it may request the creation of 
regulations gove rning use; however, before the expiry of two years following the entry into force of the 
regulations governing use, such a request is only admissible with the approval of the supervision.  
(3) If the user organisation to which regulations of use apply are i n existence or is denied the entitlement 
to conclude general contracts, the regulations of use shall cease to apply. Section 52 (3), second and third 
sentences, shall apply mutatis mutandis.  
Referral to the Conciliation Committee  
§ 67. (1) the request for the creation of regulations governing use shall be admissible only if the 
Conciliation Committee has previously been called upon and the latter has either adopted a proposal for 
Conciliation or if the time limit for this has expired.  
(2) The Conciliation C ommittee shall adopt a proposal for Conciliation within three months of the 
appointment of the Chairperson; the parties may agree to extend this time limit.  
(3) The proposed Conciliation shall contain a fully drafted overall contract between the parties. I t must be 
reasoned. Where no party submits a request to the Copyright Court for the drafting of regulations within 
four weeks from the date of notification of the proposed Conciliation, this will be deemed to be an 
implied conclusion of a global agreement with the content proposed by the Conciliation Committee.  
Entry into force and publication of regulations  
§ 68. (1) the copyright ssenat may specify that a regulations governing use shall enter into force on 
the date on which the application for assignment is filed with the copyrights, unless an overall contract is 
in force with regard to the subject matter to be regulated by the regulations governing use. Otherwise, 
sentences of sentences shall enter into force on the day following the day following which t hey are 
published pursuant to subsection 2.  
(2) The Federal Minister for Justice must immediately make statements in the editorial file.  
4. Subsection  
Supervision  
Supervision content  
§ 69. (1) the monitoring authority must ensure that collective management  organisations with their 
principal place of business in Austria perform the tasks and obligations imposed on them under this 
Federal Act in the proper manner.  
(2) In the case of collective management organisations based in another Member State of the Euro pean 
Union or a contracting party to the European Economic Area, paragraph 1 applies, on condition that 
supervision is limited to compliance with the tasks and obligations laid down in Directive 2014/26/EU in 
Austria.  
(3) The regulatory authority must take  action against persons who generally perceive rights and claims in 
Austria without authorisation or entitlement (Section 3 (3)).  
(4) Members of a collective management organisation, rights holders, users, CMOs and other 
stakeholders may inform the regulat ory authority of activities or circumstances that they consider to be an 
infringement of this Federal Act. However, there is no legal right to action by the supervision authorities.   
(5) CMOs shall provide the monitoring authority with the information it requests about all matters 
relating to the management of the management and to enable it to inspect them in the management books 
and the other documents of the CMO.  
(6) The monitoring authority shall be entitled to attend the main m eeting of the Members, a delegation or 
reference board, the meeting of members of a member establishment, the meeting of a common 
representative and at the meetings of the Board, making statements and suggestions. Where management 
is carried out by a colle gial body, the monitoring authority may require it to be given the opportunity to 
make statements and suggestions at meetings of that body.  
Communication obligations  
§ 70. (1) CMOs shall notify the monitoring authority of any change of persons authorised t o 
represent them.  
(2) Furthermore, CMOs must submit in writing to the supervision without delay  
1. any modification of the organisational regulations (cooperative contract, articles of association, 
sentences, statues),  
2. the conditions of perception contr acts and their modification,  
3. contracts with foreign collective management organisations;  
4. the distribution rules and their modification;  
5. the rules governing benefits from social and cultural institutions and their modification,  
6. the rates and the ir modification,  
7. the overall contracts and the contracts referred to in § 53, 
8. the cooperation agreements with other CMOs;  
9. decisions of the main meeting of members, a reference or delegation meeting, a supervision 
board and of advisers and committe es, or comparable institutions;  
10. the transparency report,  
 11. declarations pursuant to Section 22 (2) and,  
12. where the supervision needs to do so, the decisions in judicial or administrative proceedings 
in which the collective management organisation  is a party shall be taken.  
Regulatory actions  
§ 71. (1) the monitoring authority shall issue orders to a collective management organisation by 
means of notification where:  
1. the organisation regulations do not comply with the requirements of this Federal  Act; 
2. the collective management organisation does not fulfil its obligations to the regulatory 
authority ( § 69 (5) and § 70) or refuses to exercise the right to participate pursuant to Section 69 
(6); 
3. the collective management organisation does not p erform the other tasks and obligations 
incumbent on it in accordance with this Federal Act.  
(2) In the communication referred to in paragraph 1, the monitoring authority shall specify a reasonable 
period within which the collective management organisation must comply with the mandate; the period 
may be extended at the request of the CMO for valid reasons.  
(3) If the collective management organisation does not comply with an order pursuant to subsection (1) 
(3) within the time limit given to it, the monitori ng authority of the collective management organisation 
may, by a decision, require the collective management organisation to appoint the body responsible for 
that purpose; Paragraph 2 also applies to this communication.  
(4) Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply m utatis mutandis to supervision pursuant to Section 69 (2).  
Revocation of authorisation for perception  
§ 72. (1) the regulatory authority shall revoke the authorisation to perceive the sign where:  
1. the collective management organisation does not comply with an order pursuant to Section 71 
(1) (1) or (3) within the period given to it;  
2. if the collective management organisation does not comply with an order pursuant to Section 
71 (1) (3) within th e period given to it and an order pursuant to Section 71 (3) is not possible or 
not expedient;  
3. the collective management organisation continues to comply with the obligation even after the 
demotion of the responsible body pursuant to § 71 (3).   
(2) The s upervision may at any time verify whether the conditions for obtaining the authorisation for 
perception are still in place; 10 years after the granting of the authorisation to perceive the mark, and 
subsequently after a further ten years, it has to do so. If the conditions are no longer present, the 
regulatory authority shall revoke the authorisation to perceive it.  
Effects of the withdrawal of the authorisation to perceive  
§ 73. (1) in a decision revoking the authorisation to perceive the mark, the monitor ing authority shall 
determine the point in time at which the revocation becomes effective in such a way that the exercise of 
the rights and claims concerned can continue as undisturbed as possible.  
(2) If, at the same time, the revocation of the authorisat ion to perceive the perception is granted to another 
CMO (follow -up organisation), the following shall apply:  
1. Overall contracts concluded with the successor organisation by the CMO whose authorisation 
to perceive has been revoked (predecessor company); the effect of sentences issued for the 
predecessor company also extends to the successor company.  
2. Use licences granted in a legally valid manner by the predecessor company remain effective 
even after the entry into force of the withdrawal of the authori sation to perceive the sign; 
however, the fees to be paid for this can only be paid to the successor company with a free 
liability effect.  
 3. The perception agreements concluded with the predecessor company relate to the successor 
company, in so far as a person entitled to take charge does not object to the successor company ’s 
authorisation to perceive it by means of a registered letter within four weeks of the date of 
publication of the authorisation to perceive the successor company. The predecessor comp any is 
obliged to provide the successor company with the documents necessary for the management of 
rights, where available in electronically legible form, and to provide the information required 
therefor.  
Control of the conditions of perception contracts  
§ 74. (1) if a collective management organisation intends to amend the terms and conditions of 
perception contracts, it must indicate this to the supervision authority.  
(2) The monitoring authority may prohibit the application of the changes within four wee ks from the 
entry of the display or the remedy of a deficiency in the display to the extent that they contradict the 
requirement of timeliness and consistency.  
(3) The amendments may not be applied before expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 2.  
(4) The supervision may take subsequent regulatory actions even if it has not prohibited the amendments.  
Publications from the supervision authority  
§ 75. The monitoring authority must create and run a website and publish, in an appropriate manner, 
the decis ions of the monitoring authority and the copyright circle, the composition of the copyright 
station, the authorisation to perceive granted and the data to be published pursuant to Section 44 (1).  
Cooperation with supervisors in the European Union and the E uropean Economic Area  
§ 76. (1) the supervision authority may request regulatory authorities of other Member States of the 
European Union or contracting parties of the European Economic Area for information about collective 
management organisations based i n their territory and active in Austria. The request for information must 
state what the supervision needs to provide with the information. It must reply without delay to such a 
request for information from another supervision if sufficient reasons are giv en. 
(2) The monitoring authority of another Member State of the European Union or of another state of the 
European Economic Area may request appropriate measures against a collective management 
organisation based there and working in Austria and provide it  with all relevant information if such a 
collective management organisation is suspected of infringing the national legislation of its country of 
origin pursuant to Directive 2014/26/EU.  
(3) At the request of the monitoring authority of another Member Stat e of the European Union or another 
state of the European Economic Area, the monitoring authority must reply within three months to a CMO 
employed abroad and based in Austria and to state in its reply whether and which measures were taken or 
why it has refr ained from taking any measures.  
(4) Where the monitoring authority has made a request within the meaning of paragraph 2, it may also 
consult the expert group established in accordance with Article  41 of Directive 2014/26/EU in this matter.   
Cooperation with  the Commission  
§ 77. (1) the regulatory authority represents Austria as the competent authority for cooperation in the 
development of multiple territorial licences pursuant to Article  38 of Directive 2014/26/EU and, for 
Austria, is participating in the ex pert group pursuant to Article  41 of Directive 2014/26/EU. They have to 
report to the Federal Ministry of Justice on cooperation and the expert group meetings.  
(2) The monitoring authority must notify the Commission of changes to the list of CMOs based in 
Austria, which existed on 10 April 2016.  
Penalties  
§ 78. (1) who  
1. Rights and claims without authorisation to perceive under Section 3 (1) or without 
authorisation pursuant to § 3 (2) in the interest of several rights holders,  
2. acts as an organisation or representative of a collective management organisation against an 
order of the regulatory authority pursuant to § 71 (1) and (2) or (4) or,  
is an administrative offence and must be punished by the regulatory authority by a fin e of up to EUR 
20,000.  
(2) The fine which can be imposed pursuant to § 5 of the Austrian Administrative Enforcement Act 1991, 
ment. No 53, may not exceed EUR 10,000 in any individual case.  
5. Subsection  
Authorities and procedures  
Copyright -dressing  
§ 79. (1) the Copyright Office, established at the Federal Ministry of Justice, consists of a 
chairperson and two other members; the Chairperson shall be appointed for one and a total of two 
replacement members for the other Members. The Chairperson must act as a  judge of the Supreme Court, 
who must act as a judge of another Court of Justice in general civil or commercial matters at the time of 
his appointment. This also applies by analogy to the replacement members.  
(2) Members of the Copyright Office shall not b e bound by any instructions in the exercise of this Office. 
The Federal Minister for Justice has the right to inform themselves about all the objects of the 
management of the copyright and to refer to members of the Copyright Board for differing reasons.  
(3) The Federal Ministry of Justice must appoint the members and replacement members of the Copyright 
Office for five years. Restitutio in integrum is admissible. If the office of a Member or substitute Member 
ceases to exist during the term of office, a Me mber or a spare member shall be appointed in his or her 
place for the remainder of the term of office.  
(4) For the appointment of the Chairperson, the Federal Ministry of Justice has requested a proposal from 
the President of the Supreme Court of Justice a nd a proposal from the President of the Higher Regional 
Court of Vienna for the appointment of the other two Members. This also applies by analogy to the 
appointment of the spare Members. Each appointment proposal, if there are sufficient suitable candidat es, 
must include at least three people.  
(5) The office of a Member or substitute shall lapse upon death, upon surrender and at the end of the term 
of office. The Office shall also cease to exist where the Member  
1. finds that it is not capable of properly exercising the Office;  
2. seriously breached his obligations or otherwise behave in a manner incompatible with the 
Office’s reputation;  
3. Invitations to three successive meetings, without sufficient exclamation, do not take place.  
In cases relating to poi nts 1 to 3, the Office will only cease to apply with the finding by the copyright 
ssenat, which has to decide on the matter after hearing the Member concerned.  
(6) The Federal Ministry of Justice must provide the copyright manager with the necessary staff.  
Copyright fees and fees  
§ 80. (1) members and writers of the Copyright Office shall be entitled to remuneration for their time 
and workload. Remuneration is to be regulated in a Regulation of the Federal Ministry of Justice, taking 
into consideration the importance and scope of the tasks of the Copyright Office.   
(2) The use of the Copyright Office is subject to payment of a fee, the amount of which must be 
determined by the Regulation of the Federal Ministry of Justice. Fees must be fixed in such a way as to 
cover, on average, the cost generated by the copyright and staff made available to him.  
(3) Upon the conclusion of each set of proceedings, the copyright attorney shall determine the fee 
provided for in paragraph 2 in accordance with the effort caused b y the proceedings and order the 
applicant for a declaration of invalidity or its opponent or both of them, at his reasonable discretion, to 
pay that fee. The submission of the fee is determined by the rules governing the deposit of judicial and 
judicial ad ministration fees.  
Proceedings before the Copyright Office  
§ 81. (1) the General Administrative Procedure Act 1991 is to be applied to proceedings before the 
Copyright Office, provided that this Federal Act contains no different provisions; they must be ca rried out 
as quickly as possible.  
(2) The copyright ssenat shall communicate and decide under the leadership of the Chairperson. The 
Chairperson has to take procedural orders. Furthermore, the Chairperson shall invite the other Members 
for negotiations and  meetings.  
(3) The copyright ssenat shall decide by simple majority of the votes cast. It is inadmissible to agree with 
this. 
(4) Where a member of the Copyright Office is prevented from acting, the replacement Member 
appointed for that Member shall, in th e event that he or she is prevented from acting, be replaced by the 
second alternate member.  
(5) Members of the copyright conference may be rejected on the grounds of equity (Section 7 (1) AVG). 
Sections 21 and 22 (1) to (3) JN apply mutatis mutandis for t he exercise of the right of refusal. A decision 
on the rejection shall be taken by the copyright ssenat excluding the refused Member.  
(6) The copyright ssenat shall connect proceedings relating to the issuing of sentences, in res pect of the 
subject matter of which the participating collective agreements are to be concluded jointly within the 
meaning of Section 47 (2), to the joint hearing and decision.  
(7) Cases for which the copyright hotel is responsible shall be removed from th e ordinary courts.  
Arbitration Committee  
§ 82. (1) the Conciliation Committee shall consist of three Members. Each member is appointed by 
each party; the two Members shall elect the Chairperson. This must be a person who is not involved in the 
case and mus t not be in a relationship with any party which cast doubt on its independence. Members and 
replacement members of the Copyright Office are excluded from appointment.  
(2) The applicant must send the intended application to the respondent by registered lett er and designate 
the Member appointed by him. If the defendant does not name the Member appointed by the applicant 
within two weeks by a letter to the applicant, the applicant may request the appointment of the second 
Member and the Chairperson of the Copy right Board from the chairperson of the Copyright Board. If the 
two members appointed by the parties do not elect the chairperson within two weeks from the name of the 
second member, each party may request the Chairperson of the Copyright Board; together, the parties 
may submit this request before expiry of the time limit.  
(3) Members appointed by the Chairperson of the Copyright Office are entitled to a reward, which must 
be governed by regulations by the Federal Ministry of Justice, bearing in mind the im portance and scope 
of their work. The right of the second member to pay this allowance is directed against the party who 
failed to appoint, and the Chairperson ’s claim against both parties is jointly and severally liable.  
(4) Where CMOs are jointly conclud ed collective agreements within the meaning of Section 47 (2), then 
the parties may conclude differing agreements regarding the composition of the Conciliation Committee 
and the number of votes they may receive.  
(5) The Conciliation Committee may request a dministrative assistance from the supervision.  
Collective management agency  
§ 83. (1) within the meaning of this Act, the collective management authority established at the 
Federal Ministry of Justice is the collective management organisation authority.  
(2) The appointment of the head of the office must be preceded by a call for tender for general promotion 
pursuant to section 3 of the 1989 Act on tender.  
(3) The supervision authority is an authority attached to the Federal Ministry of Justice. All cases on  the 
part of the authority have to be dealt with under the name ‘crushing for CMOs ’.  
(4) Decisions on appeals against decisions of the supervision authority shall be taken by ates.  
Financing of the supervision  
§ 84. (1) the collective management organisati ons and entities that are eligible for contract shall 
contribute to the supervision of contributions, the sum of which corresponds to the staff and material 
effort of the supervision authority, which is required in accordance with the principles of economy , 
efficiency and suitability to carry out the following tasks of the supervision authority (total financing):  
1. the granting and delimitation of recognition authorisations, the control of their compliance and 
the control of the transfer of recognition aut horisations ( § § 3, 10, 11);  
2. supervision of collective management organisations pursuant to § 69 (1), (5) and (6);  
3. the fixing and pre -payment of financial contributions in accordance with paragraph 3;  
 4. the adoption of regulatory measures pursuant to Sections 71 and 72;  
5. control pursuant to § 74 and the examination of the conditions for the presumption of 
perception pursuant to § 25; 
6. the creation and maintenance of a website pursuant to § 75; 
7. the granting of the authorisation to conclude gen eral contracts pursuant to Section 48 (2) to (4) 
and Section 53 (2);  
8. the administrative support of complaints committees pursuant to § 82 (5).  
(2) The Federal Minister for Justice must fix the amount of the total financing by means of regulations. 
The t otal financing is to be divided into the individual parties who have to pay the contribution in 
accordance with the following principles:  
1. one quarter in the same parts to the total contractual entities;  
2. one quarter in equal parts to the collective CM Os, 
3. one quarter of total contractual CMOs in relation to their sales; and  
4. one quarter of the total contractual CMOs in relation to the number of reference holders.  
(3) The monitoring authority shall fix the financing contributions that are due to the individual 
contributions to be paid by means of a decision and be subject to a requirement for each quarter in 
advance; Financial contributions to be paid by a public profession al organisation may require the 
supervision of its umbrella organisation established nationwide. The determination of the funding 
contributions to the CMOs shall be based on the turnover of the previous calendar year and the number of 
guests at the end of this year. If the number of CMOs or the number of user organisations changes, the 
financial contributions related to them should be refixed with effect from the following calendar month.  
10 Section  
Final and transitional provisions  
Tax release  
§ 85. The co llective management organisations and their institutions are, in so far as they act within 
the scope of the area of activity described in the authorisation to perceive, distinguished from all charges 
under German law from income, revenue and assets. The sa me applies in relation to associations of 
collective management organisations (mergers and disposals within the meaning of Articles I and III 
Umgr ündungsgesetz, ction No 699/1991), which were not prohibited by the regulatory authorities 
pursuant to § 11. 
Entry into force  
§ 86. (1) with the exception of Section 92 (2), this Federal Act enters into force on 1 June 2016. As 
from the entry into force of this Federal Act, the German Act on CMOs (Collective Law 2006 — 
VerwGesG 2006) will cease to apply, Therl. I No 9/2006. Section 92 (2) shall enter into force on the day 
following the publication of this Federal Act.  
(2) If the provisions of the Austrian Trade Mark Act 2006 relate to provisions of the Austrian Trade Mark 
Act, the corresponding provisions of this F ederal Act replace those provisions.  
(3) Regulations based on this Federal Act may be issued from the day following the date of its 
publication, and administrative acts in individual cases, in particular appointments, may be adopted from 
that date; however , they will not take effect until 1 June 2016.  
(4) The entries for Sections 25a and 25b, Section 1 (1), Sections 25a and 25b in the version of the Federal 
Act beans I No 244/2021 enter into force on the day following which the notice was published.   
Continu ation of legal instruments  
§ 87. (1) the amount of total financing under Section 84 is up until the issuing of a new regulation by 
the Federal Ministry of Justice pursuant to the Regulation of the Bundeskanzler of 22 June 2006 on the 
overall financing of t he regulatory authority under the CMO Act 2006, I.l. II No 236/2006.  
(2) The members of the Copyright Office as at 31 May 2016 will continue to be appointed for the 
remainder of the last relevant appointment period. The fee for the remuneration of the memb ers and 
writers of the copyright register, the demotion of the members of the Conciliation Committee appointed 
by the Chairperson or Chairperson of the Copyright Committee and the recourse to the copyright law 
continue to be covered by the Copyright Regula tion. 
(3) According to the corresponding provisions of this Federal Act, operating licences for collective 
management organisations, recognition of authorisation to conclude general contracts as well as overall 
contracts and sentences that are still in for ce at the time of the entry into force of this Federal Act 
continue to apply. Within three years of the entry into force of this Federal Act, the monitoring authority 
must examine, for the purposes of Section 72 (2), the further valid authorisation for per ception for the 
next time.  
(4) At the time of the entry into force of this Federal Act in the case of copyright, the Boards of Appeal, 
the collective management authority or procedure pending, the provisions of this Federal Act are to be 
continued in accor dance with the provisions of this Federal Act.  
Adapting organisational rules, perception contracts and distribution rules  
§ 88. (1) CMOs have until 31.  On December 2016, adapt its organisation regulations, contracts of 
perception and distribution provision s to Sections 6, 12 to 19, 23, 24, 26 and 27, 30 to 32, 34 and 35, and 
inform the regulatory authority thereof.  
(2) The members ’ daily meetings are to be decided for the first time in 2016 on the objects referred to in 
Section 14 (2), but on the approval o f the transparency report for the first time in 2017. The declaration 
pursuant to Section 22 (2) is to be made for the first time in 2016.  
Obligations to provide information on the perception of rights  
§ 89. CMOs must inform their reference holders of thei r rights under Sections 23, 24, 26 and 27 by 
10 October 2016 and the conditions for exercising the right under § 26; for this purpose, it is sufficient 
that the amended conditions for perception contracts are made available on their websites.  
Transitional provisions related to transparency and reporting obligations, distribution  
§ 90. (1) Articles 41, 42, 45 and 46 are to be applied for the first time to financial years after 
31. December 2015.  
(2) § § 30 to 32, 34 and 35 shall apply for the first time to r evenue after the 31th  The financial year 
starting from December 2016.  
Access to multizone licensing  
§ 91. (1) if a collective management organisation which uses the collective rights to music and 
related language works, harmonised in Articles 2 and 3 of Di rective 2001/29/EC, has not granted or 
offered for sale to its Repertoire, until 10 April 2017, authorisations for simultaneous use in several 
Member States of the European Union or contracting parties to the European Economic Area, nor has 
another CMO ent rusted with it, its licensees may withdraw those rights for the purposes of granting 
multiple territorial licences for all territories without also granting it the online rights to musical works 
authorised by other geographical locations for the purposes o f granting multiple territorial licences.  
(2) CMOs that grant multiterritorial licences to online musical works have to enable those rights holders 
to communicate electronically data on their works, their rights and the territories for which they grant the  
rights, on the basis of industry standards and practices.  
(3) In any dispute between a collective management organisation and a licensee in relation to its claim 
under subsection 1, the Conciliation Committee may be called upon.  
Cooperation with th e Commission  
§ 92. (1) the monitoring authority must submit to the Commission, by 10 October 2017, a report on 
the status and development of the granting of multiterritorial licences in Austria. The report includes, in 
particular, information on the availa bility of multiple territorial licences in Austria, the compliance of 
CMOs with Sections 54 to 62 and an assessment of developments in relation to multi -territorial licences 
for online music rights by users, consumers, rightsholders and other interested pa rties.   
(2) The monitoring authority must provide the Commission with a list of CMOs established in Austria by 
1 June 2016.  
Implementation  
§ 93. The implementation of this Federal Act is entrusted with the implementation of Section 85 of 
the German Finance Act and, for the rest, the Federal Ministry of Justice.  
 
(Translated with eTranslation – not revised)  
 