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Artists, collect royalties for your published works by joining Artists Rights Society!
Learn about reprographic royalties – and get compensated for the use of your work!
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Has your work appeared in publications, online, or in TV programs abroad? You may be eligible for reprographic royalties, which you can collect by becoming a member of Artists Rights Society. Learn more about reprography and the extended collective licensing schemes managed by ARS and other copyright management organizations.
What is Reprography?
Reprography is a form of reproduction, i.e. the duplication of a published graphic image or
text. The word derives from the combination of two words: “Reproduce” and “Photography.”
Reprography produces a facsimile of a published graphic image or text using mechanical or
electronic means, for example by the following processes:
- Printing
- Photocopying
- Scanning
- Digitizing
- Electronic transmission, such as faxing
- Electronic storage in databases
The exact definition of reprography varies from country to country, but essentially it boils down
to making a copy by mechanical or electronic means of an existing image or text.
Reprography as an activity is common in educational institutions, libraries, archives, academic
publishing, and government agencies, settings in which images are reproduced for purposes
such as classroom instruction, study and reference materials, cataloguing and archiving,
scholarly journals, and information documentation
What are Reprographic Rights?
Reprographic rights are the rights used in the process of reprography. From the perspective of
rights holders, reprographic rights are considered “secondary rights,” in contrast to a rights
holder’s primary right to license the original publication of the graphic image or text. This
characteristic as a secondary right plays out in different ways based on whether the particular
reprographic use takes place in the U.S. or abroad.
How are Reprographic Rights Structured?
The U.S. handles reprographic rights differently from other countries. In the U.S., it is likely that
the types of purposes that engender reprography may fall under the “fair use doctrine,” which
requires no specific permission from rights holders if an image is used for such purposes as
criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research, and further complies
with four factors used to determine fair use.
In other countries, the view is that rights holders should be compensated for reprographic use of
their images in all cases, even for what in the U.S. would be considered fair use. Rather than
burden rights holders and rights users with the need for direct interactions for reprographic
licensing purposes, however, these countries have adopted regulations by which such rights are
handled collectively. Under this type of arrangement, no direct interaction is required between
rights users and rights holders. Rights holders are compensated for the use of their reprographic
rights not on a per-use basis, but based on broad calculations informed by algorithms and other
evidenced-based projections that determine the extent to which an image or text is likely to be
deployed in a reprographic use.
How are Reprographic Rights Compensated?
To compensate rights holders for use of their reprographic rights, countries garner funds from a
range of sources. Among these are blanket licensing agreements with sectoral institutions
(higher education, libraries, broadcast systems, government agencies, photocopy firms, etc.),
taxes on equipment and materials used in reprographic processes (photocopiers, laser printers,
scanners, software, copy paper, etc.), and fees on services involved in reprographic processes
(internet providers, cable services, etc.).
The distribution of payments for reprographic rights is managed via an international network of
country-specific Copyright Management Organizations (CMOs) that coordinate globally via
associations such as CISAC (International Federation of Societies of Authors and Composers)
and IFRRO (International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations). This interactive
system of entities will receive funds, often from governments of the respective countries where
reprographic uses have taken place, allocated for reprographic rights payments and in turn
distribute these funds to the individual rights holders, wherever they are located. Rights holders
participate in this international, interactive system by acquiring an exclusive Interested Party
Information (IPI) number, assigned to them at no charge through a rights holder’s respective
country-specific CMO.
What Stake Does a U.S. Rights Holder Have in This System?
Although this collective rights system for reprographic uses does not operate within the U.S.,
U.S. rights holders are still eligible to receive payments if their reprographic rights are utilized in
countries where this system is in effect. For artists, their estates, and their foundations who are
rights holders in the U.S., reprographic rights collections and payments are managed via Artists
Rights Society (ARS), the US-specific CMO that collaborates internationally with its sister
societies and the global networks – CISAC and IFRRO – to implement this system on behalf of
U.S. rights owners that hold an IPI number.
Will Reprographic Rights Payments to U.S. Rights Holders Increase?
Collections for reprographic rights globally have increased strongly since legislation to spur
collective management strategies was introduced in the E.U. in 2001. This trend is expected to
grow as additional countries implement their respective systems and as legislation approved in
2019 that extends blanket licenses to on-line platforms such as Google and Facebook takes
effect. Moreover, ARS is partnering with its sister societies in a new technology initiative, the
Automated Image Recognition (AIR) project, which is designed to identify and document artistic
images as they are found across the internet. With a more robust body of data documenting the
variety of images and the nature and frequency of their use, ARS will be positioned to advocate
for adjustments to the calculations that determine payments made to rights holders for
reprographic uses. With payments ranging from several hundred dollars to thousands of dollars
per year based on the artist and associated images, all of this bodes well for increased payments
to U.S. rights holders.
One of the many benefits of membership with ARS: members are eligible to collect reprographic royalties through this system! Join today.
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