Industry Advice

Most countries have copyright laws similar to New Zealand. If your work is protected here, it will also be protected in most other territories. This is because most countries (including New Zealand) have signed international treaties and conventions requiring signatories to provide minimum standards of protection for copyright material from all countries party to the treaty.

New Zealand copyright works are protected in about 133 countries, including Canada , China , France , Germany , Hong Kong , Indonesia , Japan , Korea , Malaysia , Australia , Singapore , the United Kingdom and the United States . Similarly, works from these and other territories will also be protected in New Zealand. It is important to note, however, that the term of protection may differ in other territories, and you may wish to seek specific advice on this matter.

This may be because the international society has different information in their database about that work. Eg: you may have a work registered 100% to you as the composer/author, but your royalty statement might list your share in overseas earnings as 50%. It's important that advise us if you've signed any publishing agreements, or if there are any other co-writers we are unaware of. If you think you've been underpaid, please contact us.

While in some countries forming a publishing company is necessary to collect your mechanical royalties, this is not required in New Zealand. If you represent your own catalogue, then you can market, promote and exploit it without needing to form a publishing company.