You have a music publishing company and should earn money when your repertoire is played. To ensure you receive those royalties, we recommend that you join both AKM and austro mechana.
through a performance
at a public event
through a broadcast
(radio or television)
by making it available on networks (internet, mobile phone network)
through reproduction on a sound recording that is already commercially available (CD, etc.)
AKM ensures that you receive royalties for the usage of the musical works published by your publishing company through public performance, broadcasting (radio, TV), and interactive distribution on networks (streaming, etc.).
Austro mechana ensures that you receive royalties for your “mechanical rights,” including your share of the sales proceeds from the use of sound and audiovisual recordings (CDs, DVDs, etc.). It also covers royalties for the broadcasting of the musical works published by your company, such as on television or radio, as well as their availability on streaming and mobile services. Austro mechana is also responsible for collecting and distributing the storage media remuneration.
In order for you to join AKM and/or austro mechana as a publishing company, we need the following documents from you — preferably by email:
For a sole proprietorship:
Trade license or extract from the trade register for the “music publishing” business.
For a Limited Liability Company or the like:
Trade license as well as a current excerpt from the commercial register or a document about the creation/incorporation of the company.
1
You email us the necessary documentation (trade license, etc.) and proof of the work usage.
2
AKM checks whether the admission requirements are met and sends you the membership documentation.
3
You return the completed and signed membership documents, including the representation agreement.
4
AKM and/or austro mechana confirm your membership in the respective society.
You only pay a one-time membership fee and that’s it! Neither AKM nor austro mechana charge a regular annual membership fee.
| AKM | austro mechana | |
|---|---|---|
|
Admission fee |
156 € |
55 € |
|
|
Amounts including 20% VAT. |
|
For general information about setting up a music publishing company, please contact the local Chamber of Commerce. The respective district authority/magistrate’s office is responsible for business registration.
Tamara Herker
Membership Services
+43 50717–19108
contact
FAQ
AKM and austro mechana ensure that musical authors and composers are fairly compensated when their works are used. We act as trustees, managing the rights of composers and music lyricists. We collaborate with our international sister organizations to ensure that royalties are collected worldwide. Music users can obtain the necessary licenses from us for a fee. We distribute the revenue to the musical authors and composers according to established rules.
Copyright law protects each of your works as your own intellectual property from the very moment you create it — no registration or application is required. To prevent your authorship from being stolen, it’s a good idea to gather together the evidence that you actually created your work at a specific point in time! Tip: send yourself the manuscript or the recording (on a data stick, etc.) of the work by registered mail and keep the envelope unopened to establish a record of the date, complete with the postmark on it. Keep any documentation related to the creation history of the work. If you are an AKM member, report each newly created work as soon as possible and upload an audio file — the work registration with AKM serves as proof of your authorship.
Music and linguistic works are protected until 70 years after the death of the author or the last living co-author.
Music and literary works can be used in different ways. For example, through public performance, through reproduction on paper (sheet music) or on a sound or video recording (CD, DVD, etc.), through distribution — sale, rental, lending — of sheet music and sound or picture recordings, through broadcast or through, that they are made available on networks (internet, mobile phone network, etc.). Depending on the respective option, the corresponding exploitation rights are referred to as the following:
Right to perform
Right to broadcast or right to make available to the public
Reproduction right
Right of distribution
The right to perform, broadcast and make available to the public is exercised by AKM, and the mechanical reproduction and distribution right is exercised by austro mechana.
Where we are not responsible, the rights must be exercised by the publisher or the author him/herself. For example, when printing music (graphic reproduction), when performing dramatic music works (so-called grand rights), when combining a musical work with a film or audiovisual production (“sync right”) or when editing or arranging a work.
