Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society

Last updated

The Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) is a copyright collective representing Australian and New Zealand music publishers since 1979. It is the sole mechanical rights organisation (MRO) in Australasia responsible for licensing out musical works to third parties and distributing mechanical royalties to its members, who are writers and publishers of music.

Copyrights can either be licensed or assigned by the owner of the copyright. A copyright collective is a body created by copyright law or private agreement which licenses copyrighted works on behalf of the authors and engages in collective rights management. Copyright societies track all the events and venues where copyrighted works are used and ensure that the copyright holders listed with the society are remunerated for such usage. The copyright society publishes its own tariff scheme on its websites and collects a nominal administrative fee on every transaction.

In the music industry, a music publisher is responsible for ensuring the songwriters and composers receive payment when their compositions are used commercially. Through an agreement called a publishing contract, a songwriter or composer "assigns" the copyright of their composition to a publishing company. In return, the company licenses compositions, helps monitor where compositions are used, collects royalties and distributes them to the composers. They also secure commissions for music and promote existing compositions to recording artists, film and television.

In copyright law, a mechanical license is a license that grants certain limited permissions to work with, study, improve upon, reinterpret, re-record (etc.) something that is neither a free/open source item nor in the public domain.

Contents

The society has been in an alliance with the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), which represents composers and lyricists, since 1997. The two organisations share a website, and are often referred to together as APRA AMCOS, or APRA/AMCOS. Together they have presented the APRA Awards (Australia) and APRA Awards (New Zealand) since 1998.

The Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) is a not-for-profit copyright collective representing Australian and New Zealander composers, lyricists, and music publishers. The association's head offices are located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, with branch offices in Auckland, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. APRA is a member of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC).

The APRA Music Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to recognise composing and song writing skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. These awards are to honour achievements by composers and songwriters, and include the APRA Music Awards, the Art Music Awards and the Screen Awards, all in Australia.

APRA Awards (New Zealand) New Zealand music awards

The APRA Music Awards are several annual and two-yearly award ceremonies run in New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members. APRA hold the annual Silver Scroll Awards and song awards, selects an inductee into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, and makes three professional development awards every second year. APRA also runs awards for its Australian members.

History

The Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society Limited (AMCOS) was established in 1979 to manage mechanical royalties, i.e. the reproduction or copying and storage of music in any format. [1]

In 1997 the society formed an alliance with APRA, the music rights organisation representing composers, songwriters and music publishers, to provide "a one-stop service to music creators and music customers." [2] [1]

Composer person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition

A composer is a musician who is an author of music in any form, including vocal music, instrumental music, electronic music, and music which combines multiple forms. A composer may create music in any music genre, including, for example, classical music, musical theatre, blues, folk music, jazz, and popular music. Composers often express their works in a written musical score using musical notation.

A songwriter is a professional that writes lyrics and composes musical compositions for songs. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the latter term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre and film scoring, but is also associated writing and composing the original musical composition or musical bed. A songwriter that writes the lyrics/words are referred to as lyricist. The pressure from the music industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with the task of creating original melodies. Pop songs may be written by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own music publishers, while others have outside publishers.

APRA AMCOS adheres to a voluntary Code of Conduct which was introduced in 2002. [1]

The head offices are located in Sydney, Australia where its "line of business includes owning or leasing franchises, patents, and copyrights which they in turn license others to use". [3]

Sydney Metropolis in Australia

Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Port Jackson and extends about 70 km (43.5 mi) on its periphery towards the Blue Mountains to the west, Hawkesbury to the north, the Royal National Park to the south and Macarthur to the south-west. Sydney is made up of 658 suburbs, 40 local government areas and 15 contiguous regions. Residents of the city are known as "Sydneysiders". As of June 2017, Sydney's estimated metropolitan population was 5,230,330 and is home to approximately 65% of the state's population.

It is a member of the Bureau International de l'Edition Mecanique (BIEM), the international mechanical rights coordinating organisation. [4]

Collection of mechanical royalties

AMCOS manages mechanical royalties, which are generated each time " an original musical work is licensed by a third party and commercially reproduced or sold", whether on CD, DVD or vinyl recordings, music downloads or via streaming services. Thus the licensors include all major and independent record labels as well as digital service providers (DSPs) such as iTunes and Spotify, and schools. [5]

Awards

APRA and AMCOS have presented the APRA Music Awards in Australia and New Zealand together since 1998.

Related Research Articles

Australian Copyright Council is an Australian non-profit organisation established in 1968 promoting the value of copyright.

Caitlin Yeo is an Australian musician and film composer, whose credits include the feature film Jucy (2010) and All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane (2007). She recently completed the score for The Rocket. Yeo is a graduate of the Australian Film Television and Radio School and Sydney University. Her work has won a number of awards including 2007 APRA AGSC Screen Music Award for Best Music for a Documentary and 2011 APRA Professional Development Award and received nominations in 2008, 2010 and 2012. She also teaches composition and film music theory at The Australian Institute of Music.

APRA Music Awards of 2012

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2012 are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2012 was the 30th annual ceremony by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to award outstanding achievements in contemporary songwriting, composing and publishing. The ceremony was held on 28 May 2012 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Art Music Awards were introduced in 2011 to replace the Classical Music Awards and were distributed on 3 April at the Sydney Opera House. They are sponsored by APRA and the Australian Music Centre (AMC) to "recognise achievement in the composition, performance, education and presentation of Australian music". The Screen Music Awards were issued on 19 November by APRA and Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC), which "acknowledges excellence and innovation in the genre of screen composition".

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2001 are a series of awards held on 28 May 2001. The APRA Music Awards were presented by APRA and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Only one classical music award was available in 2001: Most Performed Contemporary Classical Composition. APRA and Australian Music Centre (AMC) established the Classical Music Awards in July of the following year. APRA provided awards for "Best Television Theme", and "Best Film Score" in 2001. These were expanded to The Screen Music Awards presented by APRA and Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) in November 2002.

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2013 are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2013 was the 31st annual ceremony by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to award outstanding achievements in contemporary songwriting, composing and publishing. The ceremony was held on 17 June 2013 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The Australian Performing Right Association Awards of 2014 are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2014 was the 32nd annual ceremony by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to award outstanding achievements in contemporary songwriting, composing and publishing. The ceremony was held on 23 June 2014 at the Brisbane City Hall, for the first time. The host for the ceremony was Brian Nankervis, adjudicator on SBS-TV's RocKwiz.

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2015 are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2015 was the 33rd annual ceremony by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to award outstanding achievements in contemporary songwriting, composing and publishing. The ceremony was held on 24 March 2015 at the Carriageworks, Sydney. The host for the ceremony was Brian Nankervis, adjudicator on SBS-TV's RocKwiz.

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2016 are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2016 was the 34th annual ceremony by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to award outstanding achievements in contemporary songwriting, composing and publishing. The ceremony was held on 5 April 2016 at the Carriageworks, Sydney. The host for the ceremony was Brian Nankervis, adjudicator on SBS-TV's RocKwiz.


The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2000 are a series of awards held in May 2000. The APRA Music Awards were presented by APRA and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Only one classical music award was available in 2000: Most Performed Contemporary Classical Composition. APRA provided awards for "Best Television Theme", and "Best Film Score" in 2000. APRA and AMCOS also sponsored the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC), which provided their own awards ceremony, from 1996 to 2000, with categories for film and TV composers.

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2017 are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2017 was the 35th annual ceremony by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to award outstanding achievements in contemporary songwriting, composing and publishing. The ceremony was held on 3 April 2017 at the International Convention Centre Sydney. The host for the ceremony was Julia Zemiro, presenter on SBS-TV's RocKwiz.

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 1999 are a series of awards held in May 1999. The APRA Music Awards were presented by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Only one classical music award was available in 1999: Most Performed Contemporary Classical Composition. APRA provided awards for "Best Television Theme", and "Best Film Score" in 1999. APRA and AMCOS also sponsored the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC), which provided their own awards ceremony, from 1996 to 2000, with categories for film and TV composers.

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2018 are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2018 was the 36th annual ceremony by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to award outstanding achievements in contemporary songwriting, composing and publishing. The ceremony was held on 10 April 2018 at the International Convention Centre Sydney. The host for the ceremony was Julia Zemiro.

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 1998 are a series of awards held in May 1998. The APRA Music Awards were presented by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). The awards resumed in 1998 after a hiatus in 1997.

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 1996 are a series of awards held in May 1996. The APRA Music Awards were presented by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). APRA and AMCOS did not provide any awards in 1997, after the hiatus they resumed the annual ceremony in APRA Music Awards of 1998.

The Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) is a not for profit organisation, which was established in 1981, "to represent the interests of Australian screen composers by developing and promoting employment opportunities, undertaking educational initiatives and increasing their profile amongst the industry." The guild's head offices are in Sydney, with successive presidents from 1987 being Bob Young (1987–91), Martin Armiger (1992–98), Chris Neal (1999–2000), Art Phillips (2001–08), Clive Harrison (2008–11), Guy Gross (2012–17) and Caitlin Yeo (2018–present). Since 1991 it has been sponsored by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).

The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2019 are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2019 are the 37th annual ceremony by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to award outstanding achievements in contemporary songwriting, composing and publishing. The ceremony was held on 30 April 2019 at the Melbourne Town Hall with Brian Nankervis as host; Sarah Aarons won four categories.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "What we do". APRA AMCOS. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  2. ↑ Encyclopedia of Australian Events 1997. Macquarie Library. 1997.
  3. ↑ "Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society Ltd – Company Profile". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  4. ↑ "Societies: AMCOS (Non-voting society)". Bureau International de l'Edition Mecanique (BIEM). Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "AMCOS FAQs for songwriters and composers". APRA AMCOS. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.