Any musical work which is available in written form, provided that it possesses a personal and original character. Arrangements of other authors are also protected by copyright law if it has a personal and original character but only if the author of the original composition had approved of the arrangement.
Royalties managed by Artisjus (collective management of rights) are as follows:
Royalties received for public performances (royalties of concerts, radio and television broadcasts and online distribution), moreover Mechanical royalties (royalties of sound recordings).
Royalties managed by composers/lyricists and music publishers (based on individual permissions):
Grand right royalty (royalties of staged performances, movies and advertisements, provided that music is an inseparable constituent of the work that cannot be replaced with another type of music; it is also called “synchronisation right” because of the “synchronic”, interdependent relationship between action and music).
A music publisher is a legally registered institution that publishes and distributes musical compositions in printed or online form, moreover – on the basis of a separate agreement – manages the authors’ rights and/or promotes and manages the authors themselves. In the former case the author assigns his/her rights related to those utilisations of his/her works whose royalties are not managed by Artisjus and which are to be permitted by him/herself. i.e. the author may assign a certain part of his/her royalties to the music publisher as a compensation for the promotion. If the author also entrusts the music publisher with the management of his/her rights involving individual permissions (arrangement, grand right royalty, synchronisation), then the music publisher pays a royalty to the author, corresponding to a percentage of the incoming sums agreed upon in their contract.
Financial rights is the part of the rights belonging to the author which generate financial payments to him/her.
Of the rights belonging to the author, the personal (individual) rights (above all the right for making the work public, the right to the integrity of the work and the right to the mentioning of the author’s name) cannot be transferred; however, the financial rights are transferable and inheritable.
Certain rights of individual authors (publication in print, arrangements, grand right royalty, synchronisation) can be managed by a music publisher. However, the task of Artisjus is the collective management of rights, i.e. an activity aimed at the collection and distribution of royalties among the authors, mainly composers, lyricists and literary authors. Collective managers of rights grant permissions necessary for the use of the works and collect and then transfer the royalties, according to the permission given, to the rightholders. Collective management of rights mainly exists where the authors are unable to inspect the usages one by one and also the users are unable to contact the authors individually for their permission. Therefore collective management of rights can enforce certain author’s rights more effectively.
The record company deals with the production and distribution of sound recordings; by doing this, it directly contracts the performers (musicians, singers) involved in the recording, and pays a royalty to the authors of the utilised compositions via Artisjus (a „mechanical royalty”), whereas the music publisher contracts only the authors.
In the case of a music publishing contract, you can receive royalties from two places. Either from your music publisher to whom you assigned some of your rights, and from Artisjus. From the latter, however, only if the work has been publicly performed.
The music publisher makes an account for the author according to their contract (mostly half-yearly) and pays out directly the royalties due to the author.
For receiving your royalties you have to register with Artisjus. Part of the registration process is the making of an author’s assignment which serves as the basis of establishing a relationship between the author and Artisjus according to the law regulating authors’ rights. Artisjus will then transfer the royalties due for the registered compositions to the bank account provided during registration.
On the one hand, one can enter into a contract for the promotion of the performances of the work; in this case the author assigns a certain percentage of their royalties received (not more than 33.33%) for public performances and recordings (this is administered by Artisjus). On the other hand, for the representation of the author and the works regarding music publishing, musical arrangements, translations into a foreign language, and synchronisation. For these utilisations Artisjus does not collect or pay royalties to the authors, and a certain percentage (always specified in the contract with the publisher) of the incomes generated by such utilisations is paid to the author by the music publisher.
Publishers – besides making the music of the work accessible in an edited and printed (or, recently, also digital) form which enables the performer to record it without the author’s involvement – support the authors with professional and creative advice and help them in the commercial sale of their works. The music publisher will act as a manager or impresario of the composer. The publisher will manage all of their commercial and legal affairs; its main goal is that the author becomes popular and builds a career as a result of the more and more frequent performances of his/her works. Their common goal is the increase of the incomes and, on occasion, the publisher pays an advance to the author.
I waive a certain part, specified in the contract, of my royalties received for performances, recording and broadcast, due via Artisjus. Moreover, I waive a certain part, specified in the contract with the publisher, of the income received for the distribution of music and of other income involving individual management of rights (arrangements, synchronisation).
Not entirely. If in the contract you have assigned your rights to musical arrangements, translations into foreign languages, synchronisation, staging and music publishing to the music publisher, then it is the publisher that has the right to agree with the users, and at the same time the publisher will pay you royalties from its income due to the utilisations it permitted. Some contracts with publishers may include the condition that the author has a consultative right or the right of veto in the licencing process in relation to the above-mentioned usages.
If in your contract you have assigned the right of permitting arrangements to the publisher, then you need to ask for its permission for the arrangement. Otherwise you are free to arrange the composition.
Anyone, provided that – in the case of a Classical composition – the performer has bought the commercially distributed music (or hired the parts of an orchestral composition), and that the concert organiser pays the royalty via Artisjus for the performance.
Before concluding the contract, you have to ask for permission directly from the author(s) of the protected text (or from their successors). Having done that, the contract can be concluded as usual.
The simplest way is to do it online, using the website of Artisjus (artisjus.hu) after the registration. This solution is faster and easier than sending the relevant form by mail; nevertheless, it is possible. The necessary form is also available on the website.
In this case, too, you will receive your royalty via Artisjus, provided that you have registered your composition there. Artisjus has contracts for mutual representation with more than 80 organisations dealing with collective rights management. In this way, it represents Hungarian authors – through its partner organisations – in 140 countries.
Generally speaking, in Hungary copyright in music and lyrics lasts for the life of the creator plus 70 years. If there are several authors, the work is protected until the last day of the year of the death of the co-author who dies last. From the first day of the following year the protection terminates and the work can be utilised freely.
Generally speaking you will need permission every time you use a “substantial part” of another work. This does not mean that the part needs to be large; the law looks to the importance of the part to the entire work. It is therefore advisable to seek permission whenever you sample another work, no matter how small the part may be. If the work has a publisher, then the permission has to be requested from it; if there isn’t, it is to be required from the author(s) or their successor(s).
