On January 13, TONO submitted a statement to the Storting's Family and Culture Committee in which we express our views on the proposal for a new collective management act. Read the statement here.
/ 14/01/2021 / Willy MartinsenIn February 2014, the EU adopted a directive that aims to regulate collective management organisations that manage copyright in musical works. Following a decision by the EEA Committee in 2017, the directive will be implemented into the EEA Agreement and thus Norwegian law. In December 2019, the Ministry of Culture issued a consultation paper with proposals for implementation in Norwegian law. TONO submitted a consultation contribution in this context, which can be read here.
On November 20, 2020, came «Bill 53 L (2020-2021) on the Act on Collective Management of Copyright, etc.». The Storting's Family and Culture Committee has requested input on this bill. TONO's statement was submitted on January 13. Read the letter below. TONO will also participate in the consultation conference organized by the Family and Culture Committee on January 21.
Read about the directive on the government's website.
We refer to the committee's invitation to submit consultation input on the proposal.
The cooperative TONO SA (hereinafter referred to as "TONO") was founded in 1928 and operates collective rights management on behalf of composers, lyricists and music publishers. TONO has management contracts with approximately 36,000 individual rights holders, and through mutual representation agreements with foreign management companies also manages the world repertoire in Norwegian territory. In 2019, TONO had a turnover of approximately 771 MNOK, with an administrative cost of approximately 10,5%.
TONO is owned and managed by its members, and over the years has strived for member democracy and transparency in its management. This has, among other things, materialized in articles of association provisions on, for example, representativeness, gender balance and employee participation. This development has been greatly aided by the implementation of the Cooperatives Act (2007), which TONO is covered by and which means that the organization is adapted to modern company legislation at all levels.
TONO therefore fully supports, and is already striving to achieve, the directive's objectives of transparency and efficiency, including the requirement to present an annual transparency report.
We have noted that our input to the Ministry in connection with the preparation of the draft law has been largely heard and taken into account. It is particularly important for TONO that the provisions that ensure uniform conditions of competition appear to be well taken into account. So-called independent management organizations (referred to in the directive as "independent management entities") are operated on purely commercial principles and should, as far as possible, be subject to the same requirements as collective management organizations when they carry out the same activities.
Overall, we hope and expect that the directive will also stimulate countries in territories outside the EU/EEA to implement similar legislation. In this way, rights management can take place on equal terms and benefit rights holders not only in Norway and Europe.
We have read Norwaco's input to this consultation and would like to express our support for this. In particular, we believe that the description of the balance of power between the rights holder side – represented by the management companies – and the user side, represented in part by large, multinational companies, provides a good picture of the reality in which our organizations often find themselves.
Sincerely
TONO SA
Jørgen Karlstrøm Cato Strøm
Chairman CEO