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APRA | AMCOS

Bringing music creators and consumers together

Read the interview with Ross Hope and Emma Carton, QLD Licensing Assistant & Queensland Writer Services Representative

Australasian Performing Right Association Limited (APRA) is a not-for-profit, non-government organisation. APRA collects and distributes licence fees for the public performance and communication (including broadcast) of its members’ musical works. APRA supports new and established Australian songwriters and composers, across all genres of music. Every two years APRA conducts the Professional Development Awards to support up and coming composers; and also provides ongoing support to the Arts community through music grants and sponsorship programs.

APRA also manages the reproduction rights of its sister collecting society, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners’ Society (AMCOS). AMCOS collects and distributes ‘mechanical’ royalties for the reproduction of its members’ musical works for many different purposes. These include the manufacture of CDs, music videos and DVDs, the sale of mobile phone ringtones and digital downloads, the use of production music and the making of radio and television programs.

APRA was established in 1926. The organisation aims to ensure that copyright laws are made easier to enforce regarding the protection of songwriters’ and composers’ creativity, and allowing owners to have exclusive rights to their music and lyrics. APRA and AMCOS are separately constituted companies each with their own board of directors. However, following an agreement reached on July 1 1997, APRA manages the affairs of AMCOS and the organisations’ staff and offices have been amalgamated.

Last updated by Hoda Toloui-Wallace (2011-10-29)