Purpose of the company
Carrier media and recording devices levy Section 54 UrhG
(German Copyright Act)
How does the claim pursuant to Section 54 UrhG arise?
Private copying of TV-broadcasts is permissible, but it is subject to payment of a remuneration pursuant to Section 54 UrhG. The purpose of this statutory remuneration claim is to provide the rightholder with a financial compensation for the fact that, according to experience, copyrighted works are copied privately without the rightholder being paid a compensation.
Who pays such remuneration and how does GWFF collect these amounts?
The statutory remuneration claim is directed against the manufacturers, dealers and importers of recording devices and carrier media.
In order to more effectively assert the remuneration claims, the collecting societies joined to form the ZPÜ (Zentralstelle für private Überspielungsrechte). The ZPÜ collects the due amounts from the manufacturers, dealers and importers of recording devices and carrier media. The revenues received by the ZPÜ are distributed to the partners on the basis of a formula agreed upon between the partners and according to the scope of the rights contributed by the individual partners.
What must the rightholder do to get his remuneration?
The first precondition of participation in the distribution is the conclusion of a collection agreement by which the author/producer transfers to GWFF his rights in and to cinematographic and television works for fiduciary exercise.
Furthermore, the data which are necessary for the identification of the film such as the title, the director, the country of production, the length in minutes etc. (see registration form) and, where known, the transmitting broadcaster must be notified.
The notification must further be broken down into
a) German and European feature films with theatrical release in Germany
b) other German cinematographic and television works,
This is how GWFF makes distributions to the rightholders.
According to a distribution plan approved by the German Patent and Trademark Office, the cinematographic and television works broadcast by German television stations in a calendar year are assigned points which depend on criteria such as number of viewers (Mediametrie data) or length of the film.
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