The IT Law Wiki

Definition[]

A collective management organization (CMO)

[would] represent[] copyright owners in particular categories of works. CMOs would be authorized by the Copyright Office to issue licenses for mass digitization projects and to collect royalties on behalf of both members and non-members of the organizations, based on transparent formulas and accounting practices. All rightsholders would have the right to opt out, and procedures for doing so would be clear and unencumbered. The framework thus would seek to eliminate the practical impediments to mass digitization by creating a centralized, market-based mechanism for the clearance of rights and the compensation of copyright owners. It also recognizes that no licensing entity has or will ever have the full portfolio of rights that are implicated by mass digitization projects.[1]

Collective management organizations (CMOs)

are membership organizations through which rightsholders can license their works on a collective basis under mutually agreed terms and conditions. Examples in the United States include ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC for the licensing of public performance rights in musical works.[2]

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