Copyright Agency Ltd
| Company type | Not-for-profit public company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Copyright management |
| Predecessor | Viscopy (Visual Arts Copyright Collecting Agency) |
| Headquarters | Australia |
Area served | Australia |
| Products | Royalty collection and distribution, Statutory Educational Licence administration, Resale Royalty Scheme management |
Copyright Agency Ltd (CAL) is an Australian not-for-profit public company dedicated to enabling third-party reuse of copyrighted works by collecting fees and distributing royalties to rights holders. Operating under business names such as Viscopy, Rightsportal, and Smarteditions, CAL is formally authorized by the Australian Government to oversee royalty payments to creators, including on behalf of educational organizations.
History
On 2 July 2012, Copyright Agency took over management of Viscopy’s operations (previously known as the Visual Arts Copyright Collecting Agency). By 30 November 2017, Viscopy was fully integrated into Copyright Agency, although the Viscopy brand continues to be used as a trading name.
Functions
CAL oversees the administration of the Australian education copying scheme pursuant to the Statutory Education Licence. Additionally, it manages copying schemes for Commonwealth and State governments as well as the Resale Royalty Scheme designed for artists.
Educational institutions may obtain a Statutory Educational Licence under Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968 by following these steps:
- Publishing a notice in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (this excludes universities, TAFE institutes, full-time primary and secondary schools, pre-schools, and kindergartens);
- Completing and submitting the Statutory Educational Licence notification form to CAL; and
- Finalizing a CAL Educational Licence agreement.
Institutions participating in this scheme remit an annual fee calculated based on projected usage of copyrighted materials, generally estimated according to student enrollment figures.
John Fries Award
Established in 2010 and named in honor of former Viscopy director John Fries, the John Fries Award is an annual non-acquisitive art prize valued at . It aims to support emerging visual artists and is funded by the CAL Cultural Fund alongside partners such as UNSW Galleries and Art Van Go.
Copyright Agency Partnerships
In April 2021, the CAL Cultural Fund initiated the Copyright Agency Partnerships (CAP), a three-year series of artistic commissions in collaboration with Sydney’s 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Melbourne’s Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, and Brisbane’s Institute of Modern Art. With a total value of , CAP provides mid-career and established visual artists opportunities for commissions and solo exhibitions from 2021 through 2024. Selection is conducted by representatives from each institution together with an independent peer assessor. The first awardee was TextaQueen, whose work Bollywouldn’t was displayed at 4A in 2022.
Criticism
In 2008, Nicholas Gruen criticized CAL for imposing substantial royalty fees on the financially limited educational sector, advocating instead for public funding to support content creators. He also contested CAL’s efforts to collect royalties on historical surveyors' maps held by the New South Wales Government, pointing out that these maps were publicly accessible and that surveyors had already been compensated.