RIGHTS & ROYALTIES

• What are secondary rights and when are royalties for them triggered?
• How does PACC establish entitlement to royalties?
• Which countries have royalties available for secondary rights uses?
• What types of royalties are not collected by PACC?

What are secondary rights and when are royalties for them triggered?
The licensing and exploitation of your film and television programs outside Canada gives
rise to “secondary rights” royalties. These fall into four categories.

1. Private Copy Levies
A fee is added to the price of blank recording media and devices to compensate rights-
holders for the loss of revenue caused by widespread private copying of audiovisual
works by consumers. These fees are paid by the manufacturers and importers of:
• hardware capable of recording, such as DVD machines and PVRs, and,
• blank recording media, such as blank DVDs.

2. Rental and Lending Right Royalties
Audiovisual rental stores pay rightsholders for the right to rent audiovisual works. The
stores pay a royalty based on the titles held in rental inventory.

3. Exhibition/Public Performance Levies
When TV programs are shown in public places on a television or other device, levies are
triggered. Bars, restaurants, fitness clubs, hospitals, prisons, and others are licenced and
pay these royalties.

4. Educational Copying and Performance Royalties
When schools copy TV programs while being broadcast, for subsequent use in the class-
room, royalties are triggered. Schools at all levels and most types (including public, pri-
vate, elementary, secondary, post-secondary, professional, and vocational institutions)
are licenced. They pay fees to a local collecting society rather than having to seek per-
mission from individual copyright owners.

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How does PACC establish its entitlement to royalties?
PACC enters into agreements with collecting societies internationally which authorize us
to collect royalties on behalf of Canadian rightsholders. In some countries, PACC is the
only organization through which royalties can be paid to Canadians. Royalties are paid
based on each collecting society’s distribution policy – PACC ensures that the terms
offered to Canadians are on par with other rightsholders.

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Which countries have royalties available for secondary rights uses?
Austria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latin
America, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and the
United Kingdom have audiovisual collecting societies through which these royalties are
collectively administered.

The international arena for these royalties is complex. Not all countries have copyright
legislation defining all types of royalties, and not all countries pay royalties to all rights-
holders. Some countries will not pay royalties to Canadian rightsholders because Canada
cannot reciprocate. PACC collects royalties from all countries where they are available to
Canadian rightsholders. We constantly monitor developments, and negotiate new agree-
ments for royalty streams, and in new countries, as they become available. We work with
and support the efforts of like-minded organizations in Canada and around the world,
establishing new sources of revenue for copyright owners everywhere.

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What types of royalties are not collected by PACC?
• PACC does not collect retransmission royalties. Canadian rightsholders collect these
  through the Canadian Retransmission Collective for the Canadian territory, through the
  United States Copyright Royalty Board for royalties from the U.S. territory, and through
  AGICOA for royalties outside North America.

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