The state of China’s collective rights management in the context of the United States and Japan

With the rapid expansion of China’s economy, China’s music industries have shown rapid growth, and new companies have entered the marketplace. As these companies have had little pre-existing experience with the music industry—not to mention that music industry is a relatively new concept in China—the expansion has been not only rapid but also disordered and chaotic. One component of a mature music industry are collective rights management or performing rights organizations, which are independent non-profit social organizations that collect license fees on behalf of copyright holders (songwriters, composers, music publishers) and distribute these fees as royalties to members whose works have been performed. In this “In Focus” report, we compare and contrast the state of collective rights management in China, the United States, and Japan. Recognizing that China’s representative, the Music Copyright Society of China, is new to the scene, we should not be terribly surprised that it is lagging behind the other countries. Herein, we cite various areas where improvement is necessary so that China’s collective rights management can be in part with its international peers.