At ARS, we value our Illustrator members.
Artists Rights Society can represent artists in two ways, either as a full member for all reproduction rights, or as a member for secondary or reprography rights only. Many illustrators manage their primary copyrights directly but can join ARS for management of reprographic rights. If you are an illustrator, it is important to note that allowing ARS to collect reprographic royalties on your behalf does not preclude or limit you from the exclusive licensing of your work by any other means.
Reprographic reproduction is the copying of published work. It began with photocopying and has now extended into digital reproductions of published works. These rights are held individually but licensed through a collective administration. It is not possible for an illustrator to license these rights individually. ARS has agreements with multiple foreign national Collective Management Organizations (CMOs) specializing in collective licensing of secondary reprographic use of artists’ copyrighted works within their territory.
If you are an illustrator looking to tap into this additional revenue stream, membership in ARS is always free. When you join ARS, as a member, you are assigned an Interested Party Information (IPI) number and are therefore assimilated into the IPI database at no cost. In fact, ARS is the only U.S. visual art CMO that can provide this service for you. The IPI is the global unique identification of a right holder and the corresponding rights in a work as approved by CISAC. This system is an essential component of the data exchange mechanism linking the CISAC member societies.
As an illustrator member of ARS, you will be invited from time to time to fill out a claim sheet for specific countries in which your work has been published. Claims are different from country to country as foreign CMOs have differing methods and protocols for collecting and distributing secondary reprographic royalties.
Payments, along with reports detailing uses for the period, are sent to members on a semi-annual basis. Any questions about membership or claims can be sent to [email protected]